1986/87 attendances

[oldblade]

I think the Warnock era has a lot to do with the current attendances at the lane a new generation to fall in love with the Blades and if this current era carries on it’ll be the same.

Steady on SR, you can't go saying things like that on here! How dare you big up Warnock. He is the devil incarnate, didn't you know that? He's responsible for everything bad that's happened to us since God knows when. In fact I strongly suspect he was responsible for the banking disasters 10 years ago.................

 

[oldblade]

I can think of no good reason why the figures would be wrong but I have to say that - the figures look wrong! We averaged more than that in the 4th division and I can’t remember many matches in the 3rd or 4th where the official crowd was less than 10,000. Or perhaps my memory is wearing rose tinted glasses....

Think your memory is playing tricks. I remember quite a few attendances below 10,000 during that period and I think for the most part the official attendances were fairly accurate. The terraces were quite often thinly populated. But attendances in general were poor at that time. Our attendances were fairly respectable by the standards of the time. Going to football matches was not fashionable, the economy was in the toilet and people had more important things to spend their money on.

 

[bromtom]

I think the Warnock era has a lot to do with the current attendances at the lane a new generation to fall in love with the Blades and if this current era carries on it’ll be the same.

This period has to be doing wonders for the yoof getting involved in the club, from an outside perspective we've really got our shit together at the moment.

If you're a kid in Sheffield and your parents are of no allegiance then you have to look at us over Wendy. On and off the pitch, playing fantastic, attacking football in a great ground with a fantastic atmosphere that's easy to get to, cheapish tickets, especially for kids and students and decent offers like quid a kid and £10 ticket for a friend with a season ticket, players who inspire support, full internationals, at least one potential superstar.

We've got a marketing team that know what they're doing, Forged in Steel, high quality and well made Adidas kit, gear and swag to buy - the other day they sent out an email with a Carabao voucher on it, they've been running competitions to win signed copies of FIFA, it's good engagement for a wide younger audience. Leon Clarke is in the FIFA Team of the Week, a fickle Sheffield based 10 year old might see that and think "actually fuck Wednesday, I'm off to the Lane after I've smoked this spliff" haha

It's fantastic at the moment, long may it continue. Honestly the atmosphere at the Hull game was just unbelievable. It was tribal, get people in now and they'll stay forever. There was a moment I think it was when Leon scored his third that was like that bit from Scott Pilgrim Vs The World where that big sound monster is formed and kicks the shit out of that serpent.

 

[Revolution]

That was the season when United had their lowest average gate in the 20th century. There was also the lowest post war crowd vs Palace (6,600 odd I think) and our lowest Boxing Day crowd of 11,000 odd against Hull. The game against Plymouth also attracted less than 7,000. The biggest gate was against Derby, who brought a lot of fans to a game towards the end when they were pushing for promotion and we had 19,000.

Those low crowds are real. I remember coming into the ground for the Shrewsbury game on the first day. Couldn't believe how few people were there.

The previous season had seen the lowest aggregate gates since the War, of just over 10 million total.

Wednesday are something of an anomaly. I saw a chart comparing crowds from 1985-6 to 2015-16 and only half a dozen clubs averaged more 32 years ago than they did 2 years ago. Wednesday were one of them. This was mainly due to their having their best season in 2 decades, and also because in those days there was a lot more "floating" support and the Sty had big crowds for big games. For example, I think they had 48,000 for the Man Utd game and over 40k for Liverpool.

 

[Revolution]

In the days before the playoffs, a ninth place finish meant that the season was over by February.

That was in fact the first season of the playoffs.

 

[northsomersetblade]

I,m not so sure - I think those figures are 25% down at a guess.

I went to more matches in the 80's than any other decade, maybe half of all matches home and away on average. Just sayin'

 

[Blade58]

I think the Warnock era has a lot to do with the current attendances at the lane a new generation to fall in love with the Blades and if this current era carries on it’ll be the same.

Credit has to go to McCabe for having the foresight to attract the young supporter and get them hooked at a tender age. Offering kids for a quid and other incentives such as cheap kids season tickets was a master stroke at that time. Other clubs have since followed suit, namely the unclean across the city, although the Chanser is currently trying to do his best to mess that up.

 

[coaxingstar71]

That was the season when United had their lowest average gate in the 20th century. There was also the lowest post war crowd vs Palace (6,600 odd I think) and our lowest Boxing Day crowd of 11,000 odd against Hull. The game against Plymouth also attracted less than 7,000. The biggest gate was against Derby, who brought a lot of fans to a game towards the end when they were pushing for promotion and we had 19,000.

Those low crowds are real. I remember coming into the ground for the Shrewsbury game on the first day. Couldn't believe how few people were there.

The previous season had seen the lowest aggregate gates since the War, of just over 10 million total.

Wednesday are something of an anomaly. I saw a chart comparing crowds from 1985-6 to 2015-16 and only half a dozen clubs averaged more 32 years ago than they did 2 years ago. Wednesday were one of them. This was mainly due to their having their best season in 2 decades, and also because in those days there was a lot more "floating" support and the Sty had big crowds for big games. For example, I think they had 48,000 for the Man Utd game and over 40k for Liverpool.

I think you're spot on as usual Revolution .

I was 16 and a season ticket holder on the Kop that season. I think there are a number of reasons for the low crowds compared to now...

1. The team was poor. After a promising couple of seasons after Brealey came in, he seemed to lose interest after his 'Bramall Centre' scheme was rejected by the Council planners. There was little investment in the team to the point where supporters were directly involved in buying players (Richard Cadette).
2. Unemployment was high due to the decimation of industry in the city, particularly coal and steel.
3. Grounds were no more than run down cages, decrepit old stands and crumbling terracing.
4. The height of football hooliganism. I remember having to plead with my Mum to start letting me go on my own as she was certain I would get beat up or worse. In truth, I never really saw any problems. The worst I saw was Leeds in 1985/86.
5. Little or no marketing. The junior blades had just started and kids sometimes got the odd complimentary tickets but it was nothing like the commercial enterprise it is today.
6. The failure of the national game. English clubs were still banned from European competition after Heysel and England made a very poor showing at the 88 Euros.

The general turnaround occurred, tragically, after Hillsborough when the authorities finally realised that if you treat supporters like animals, they will act like them. England got to the semis in the 1990 World Cup and English clubs were allowed back into Europe.

In the Blades case, this coincided with some success at last with Bassett getting us back into Division 1 and we also had some runs and big games in the FA Cup, something the club had not had for the previous 30 years.

 

[Revolution]

I think you're spot on as usual Revolution .

I was 16 and a season ticket holder on the Kop that season. I think there are a number of reasons for the low crowds compared to now...

1. The team was poor. After a promising couple of seasons after Brealey came in, he seemed to lose interest after his 'Bramall Centre' scheme was rejected by the Council planners. There was little investment in the team to the point where supporters were directly involved in buying players (Richard Cadette).
2. Unemployment was high due to the decimation of industry in the city, particularly coal and steel.
3. Grounds were no more than run down cages, decrepit old stands and crumbling terracing.
4. The height of football hooliganism. I remember having to plead with my Mum to start letting me go on my own as she was certain I would get beat up or worse. In truth, I never really saw any problems. The worst I saw was Leeds in 1985/86.
5. Little or no marketing. The junior blades had just started and kids sometimes got the odd complimentary tickets but it was nothing like the commercial enterprise it is today.
6. The failure of the national game. English clubs were still banned from European competition after Heysel and England made a very poor showing at the 88 Euros.

The general turnaround occurred, tragically, after Hillsborough when the authorities finally realised that if you treat supporters like animals, they will act like them. England got to the semis in the 1990 World Cup and English clubs were allowed back into Europe.

In the Blades case, this coincided with some success at last with Bassett getting us back into Division 1 and we also had some runs and big games in the FA Cup, something the club had not had for the previous 30 years.

Spot on. And the explosion in popularity and rise in gates can be attributed to a perfect storm of events, in no particular order;

1. As you say, better Stadia post Hillsborough
2. As you say, a better England team (the Gazza effect)
3. Positive media coverage
4. The playoffs increased gates and interest
5. Much more football on TV
6. Much as I hate to say it, the Premier League
7. Fever Pitch/broadsheet journalism making football acceptable and accessible to a higher income audience.
8. Foreign players providing added interest
9. Euro 96 moving football centre stage into the Country's consciousness
10. More disposable income.

Plus for us specifically, United came out of their 1980s dark ages (and Warnock then pushed us further) and we got a modern ground.

I've recommended it before, but David Goldblatt's "the Game of our Lives" has a brilliant chapter comparing the matchday experience in the 1980s with today.

 

[Maidenhead]

Less than ten years earlier they also had very poor gates, circa 11k. Violence was the norm in the 80s and many stayed away from the Lane. Lots of clubs had very poor attendances. We were also shit in the mid 80s

I had a season ticket throughout the 80's.

Surely I should get loyalty points for being there when we were shit?

 

[Maidenhead]

Highlight of that season was beating Portsmouth 1-0 with four players sent off. It was the first match report on Sports Report on Radio Two.

And then we needed a Paul Mariner own goal to win it even though we had 10 against their 8!

 

[South Bucks]

I had a season ticket throughout the 80's.

Surely I should get loyalty points for being there when we were shit?

I've got a decent number of programmes from the 70's onwards and was in that "blades revival" thing where we all chipped in to buy players with a couple of quid a week so can I have some loyalty points for those please. As it is what I did before 2006 counts for nowt.

 

[Maidenhead]

I've got a decent number of programmes from the 70's onwards and was in that "blades revival" thing where we all chipped in to buy players with a couple of quid a week so can I have some loyalty points for those please. As it is what I did before 2006 counts for nowt.

I've got that Blades revival thing too, but I didn't join until 1994.

Can't complain though as I reckon I'm still in front on it having won the top prize twice (£2,000 & £1,000) and various other smaller prizes along the way.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Going to football in the 1980s was a poor experience. Awful stadiums, fans caged in, assumed to be hooligans. It really was only for the addicted,

Well at least the stadiums have improved.

 

[diplomat]

That was the season when United had their lowest average gate in the 20th century. There was also the lowest post war crowd vs Palace (6,600 odd I think) and our lowest Boxing Day crowd of 11,000 odd against Hull. The game against Plymouth also attracted less than 7,000. The biggest gate was against Derby, who brought a lot of fans to a game towards the end when they were pushing for promotion and we had 19,000.

Those low crowds are real. I remember coming into the ground for the Shrewsbury game on the first day. Couldn't believe how few people were there.

The previous season had seen the lowest aggregate gates since the War, of just over 10 million total.

Wednesday are something of an anomaly. I saw a chart comparing crowds from 1985-6 to 2015-16 and only half a dozen clubs averaged more 32 years ago than they did 2 years ago. Wednesday were one of them. This was mainly due to their having their best season in 2 decades, and also because in those days there was a lot more "floating" support and the Sty had big crowds for big games. For example, I think they had 48,000 for the Man Utd game and over 40k for Liverpool.

I've got a programme from around that time when I went with a Wendy mate. You're right, I remember something like 13,000 v Coventry and over 40,000 v Liverpool/Man U. I wonder what the away followings were like?

 

[Aganarama]

Whilst the crowds were definitely lower than today’s, there was a lot of scepticism every time the crowd was announced. It always seemed like there were more there than the official figure. We will never really know!

On the tour of the Boardroom back in 1989, the guide pointed out a small black box that looked like a calculator screen above the double doors. With a bit of a wink, he said it was there to display the real attendance figure... I was only ten at the time, and it's funny that it stuck in my memory!

 

[Ricky]

This is no time ago at all and when you consider the huge spike in attendances since then it makes you think of the future possibilities.

Especially if these things could be applied.

What we need is an injection of a few of the old-fashioned values into the modern sport, ie prices for working class fans, and a pursuit not just of money, but of character when it comes to players, grounds, style of play and running a club.

Stadiums have to be built better. The last 20 years has been a depressing time for football stadiums. Almost every new one is shit, devoid of any character. We seem to be turning the corner a bit now with stadium design, but key aspects are still often neglected. It really shouldn't be difficult. Don't make every stand the same. Create a focal point for home support. Raise the front row above ground level. And when possible, incorporate large standing areas. Better views and better atmospheres would make football considerably more appealing.

Pricing is the big one. Although unfortunately PL clubs in particular can generally charge what they want.

Oh and it would help if there weren't so many glory hunting children. Chelsea shirts in Sheffield FFS.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Well at least the stadiums have improved.

And at least we are no longer behind fences, and whilst policing has, shall we say, room for improvement, most people attending matches are not automatically regarded as criminals.

 

[Maidenhead]

And at least we are no longer behind fences, and whilst policing has, shall we say, room for improvement, most people attending matches are not automatically regarded as criminals.

Unless they're Blades heading to Hillsborough.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Unless they're Blades heading to Hillsborough.

Hence my comment about room for improvement. And at least they claimed they were trying to protect the people on the tram. But that was, I think, a shabby fiasco.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Many very interesting comments on this thread. I am sure crowds were underestimated, possibly because the away club received 20% of gate money, and especially in the Cup, where the away team got the same money as the home team. But the crowds for league matches were clearly low.
There was a natural boom after the War, with football having few rivals as a leisure pursuit. Wednesday were still benefiting from their success in the 30s, where our glory days were receding into the distant past. I recall seeing S6 beat the great Spurs double-winning team in front of a packed ground, and the following Monday at school was a miserable experience. United were a secure top 2 divisions team in the 50s and 60s, but relegation to the 3rd tier of football was never an issue. Going all the way down to League 4 was a major shock, and we are arguably still on the way back from that. At last the whole club has a proper feel to it, and we are tapping into the resurgence of the game in general.

 

[Brussblade]

This is interesting stuff.

No doubt Wednesday are a very well supported team, but their average crowd for the 70s was less than 14,000 so Blades fans not old enough to remember those times shouldn't be too shocked by these stats.

In the 80s, the Blades really were at their lowest ebb (along with lots of other teams.) Wednesday, on the other hand, had a very good team for the most part and a big stadium to fill whenever Man Utd came to town.

 

[Blade56]

Yes, and I waz there

 

[oldblade]

Wednesday are something of an anomaly. I saw a chart comparing crowds from 1985-6 to 2015-16 and only half a dozen clubs averaged more 32 years ago than they did 2 years ago. Wednesday were one of them. This was mainly due to their having their best season in 2 decades, and also because in those days there was a lot more "floating" support and the Sty had big crowds for big games. For example, I think they had 48,000 for the Man Utd game and over 40k for Liverpool.

I think it is true that Wednesday were enjoying their best and most sustained period of 'success' in 20 years, and added to that they had emerged from 10 years of Blades dominance over them and these things all had a positive effect on their attendances. It was all pretty much the opposite of what had been happening in the 1970s.

 

[Revolution]

Here are our home attendances from 1986-7:

Shrewsbury (1-1) 9,865
Millwall (2-1) 8,010
Birmingham (1-1) 10,297
Grimsby (1-2) 9,840
Reading (3-3) 8,816
Huddersfield (0-0) 9,243
Sunderland (2-1) 12,317
Stoke (3-1) 11,177
Brighton (0-1) 8,840
Portsmouth (1-0) 9,523
Hull (4-2) 11,296
WBA (1-1) 9,240
Leeds (0-0) 12,494
Plymouth (2-1) 6,982
Barnsley (1-0) 8,971
Palace (1-0) 6,647
Bradford (2-2) 9,679
Blackburn (4-1) 7,762
Oldham (2-0) 11,336
Derby (0-1) 19,166
Ipswich (0-0) 8,324

21 games, and only 7 of them in five figures: Derby, Leeds and Sunderland brought a lot of fans (Derby at least 7,000), the Oldham and Stoke games were both after we'd won a couple of games in a row and were doing comparatively well (and Oldham were pushing for promotion) and Hull was Boxing Day. Birmingham was the other game that scraped above 10,000.

I saw 17 or 18 of these games. I missed Ipswich (family Bank holiday trip took priority), Leeds (not allowed to go after it became all ticket after the trouble in 1985) and Palace, our lowest home league crowd since 1935, when I think my Dad had a work commitment and couldn't take me. We were down to the real diehards then, and if some of the diehards like us miss the game, you're going to get a low crowd. I can remember something about all of these games except Millwall, so I think I may have missed that one as well.

There were some good games: we were excellent against Stoke (funny Lee Dixon own goal and a classic Beagrie back post header), Blackburn (that Andy Kennedy goal!) and Oldham. Hull saw Beagrie score twice from 25+ yards. The Portsmouth game with 4 sendings off was a weird game to say the least. Bradford was memorable for a first minute own goal from Andy Barnsley and our comeback from being 2-0 down after 10 minutes. The WBA game featured good goals from Peter Withe and, for WBA, Garth Crooks. The last minute Frain winner against Sunderland was a great moment, as were all the Beagrie backflips.

Bad moments? Seeing all those Derby fans celebrate after they got the winner. That shocking performance against Brighton. And the Reading nightmare - 3 up after an hour, 3-3 5 minutes later. Took me months to get over that. I still tremble when I see Trevor Senior's name.

Despite the mediocrity and low crowds I have fond memories of that season. Mind you, I didn't go to any away games: we only won 4.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Hence my comment about room for improvement. And at least they claimed they were trying to protect the people on the tram. But that was, I think, a shabby fiasco.

Which was a lie.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Which was a lie.

I should have given a bit more context to my original comments. What I meant was that in the 80s, going to any ground, including the Lane, all were treated as potential criminals, including those of us going with young children. I think the majority of us now going to the Lane week-in, week-out, are generally assumed to be relatively decent human-beings unless we act in ways that suggest otherwise. The general experience is much better. That is why I do get hot under the collar when fans behave badly, or when the police revert to the bad old ways. There are things that I am nostalgic about. 1980s football is not one of them.

 

[I should coco]

Here are our home attendances from 1986-7:

Shrewsbury (1-1) 9,865
Millwall (2-1) 8,010
Birmingham (1-1) 10,297
Grimsby (1-2) 9,840
Reading (3-3) 8,816
Huddersfield (0-0) 9,243
Sunderland (2-1) 12,317
Stoke (3-1) 11,177
Brighton (0-1) 8,840
Portsmouth (1-0) 9,523
Hull (4-2) 11,296
WBA (1-1) 9,240
Leeds (0-0) 12,494
Plymouth (2-1) 6,982
Barnsley (1-0) 8,971
Palace (1-0) 6,647
Bradford (2-2) 9,679
Blackburn (4-1) 7,762
Oldham (2-0) 11,336
Derby (0-1) 19,166
Ipswich (0-0) 8,324

I went to all of those (Kop seson ticket) and I've never really thought about how low those attendance were. Take Blackburn and they would have brought about 500 then, so a mere 7,000 Blades in the ground. Pretty poor but a sign of how much rampant hooliganism put off 'normal' people. It was just the hard core week in, week out. I stood up near the back of the Kop and apart from my own mates, you knew everyone around you to nod to. A big Kop with just 3,000 people on could seem like the African savannah at times....

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Here are our home attendances from 1986-7:

Shrewsbury (1-1) 9,865
Millwall (2-1) 8,010
Birmingham (1-1) 10,297
Grimsby (1-2) 9,840
Reading (3-3) 8,816
Huddersfield (0-0) 9,243
Sunderland (2-1) 12,317
Stoke (3-1) 11,177
Brighton (0-1) 8,840
Portsmouth (1-0) 9,523
Hull (4-2) 11,296
WBA (1-1) 9,240
Leeds (0-0) 12,494
Plymouth (2-1) 6,982
Barnsley (1-0) 8,971
Palace (1-0) 6,647
Bradford (2-2) 9,679
Blackburn (4-1) 7,762
Oldham (2-0) 11,336
Derby (0-1) 19,166
Ipswich (0-0) 8,324

21 games, and only 7 of them in five figures: Derby, Leeds and Sunderland brought a lot of fans (Derby at least 7,000), the Oldham and Stoke games were both after we'd won a couple of games in a row and were doing comparatively well (and Oldham were pushing for promotion) and Hull was Boxing Day. Birmingham was the other game that scraped above 10,000.

I saw 17 or 18 of these games. I missed Ipswich (family Bank holiday trip took priority), Leeds (not allowed to go after it became all ticket after the trouble in 1985) and Palace, our lowest home league crowd since 1935, when I think my Dad had a work commitment and couldn't take me. We were down to the real diehards then, and if some of the diehards like us miss the game, you're going to get a low crowd. I can remember something about all of these games except Millwall, so I think I may have missed that one as well.

There were some good games: we were excellent against Stoke (funny Lee Dixon own goal and a classic Beagrie back post header), Blackburn (that Andy Kennedy goal!) and Oldham. Hull saw Beagrie score twice from 25+ yards. The Portsmouth game with 4 sendings off was a weird game to say the least. Bradford was memorable for a first minute own goal from Andy Barnsley and our comeback from being 2-0 down after 10 minutes. The WBA game featured good goals from Peter Withe and, for WBA, Garth Crooks. The last minute Frain winner against Sunderland was a great moment, as were all the Beagrie backflips.

Bad moments? Seeing all those Derby fans celebrate after they got the winner. That shocking performance against Brighton. And the Reading nightmare - 3 up after an hour, 3-3 5 minutes later. Took me months to get over that. I still tremble when I see Trevor Senior's name.

Despite the mediocrity and low crowds I have fond memories of that season. Mind you, I didn't go to any away games: we only won 4.

Good job there wasn't an on-line forum in those days. Can you imagine the melt-downs?

 

[Cheets]

The first time I really took an interest in attendance figures was 1981/82 in division 4. Towards the end of the season we were regularly getting over 20,000 and one night we got a higher crowd against Bradford that European Champions Liverpool got against Birmingham. I was shocked by how quickly the crowds dipped the following season. OK, we were in mid-table but we dipped below 10,000 several times before the end of the season and as fewer people bought season-tickets in those days, it must have had a huge effect on our revenue. 1986/87 was the first season after we had sacked Porterfield and sold Keith Edwards and we went from having a squad full of 30-somethings to a much younger squad. Beagrie looked fantastic on his day but it was a bit of a patchy season. That said, for much of the last decade we would have given our right arms to be above halfway in the second tier.