Is the club soon to be at risk of losing some or a sizeable proportion of the fans gained over the last 25 years?

[Danny_Blade]

Could we potentially start to lose them or would you say that the club has properly established them (barring going back down to L1 or worse)?

In the potential scenario that the club doesn't do anything in the next few years (i.e. not just return to the PL but finally establish or reach/win a cup final) because if we don't then you could argue the club hasn't progressed during this whole time (haven't progressed in that we're still a second tier club that has few and very brief spells in the top flight so no real difference from what the club was back in the late 90's). Weren't our average home attendances back then around 16k - 18k? You can add another 10k - 12k which rounds off the current average and its these fans I'm more specifically talking about.

No real progress after a substantial amount of time (quarter of a century) = lose 'em eventually, or the club has most likely sustained them despite everything - which one is it?

For me, a big factor in this is whether our new owners can finally push the club on from underachieving for the vast majority of the last 50 years. Although it's still very early in their tenure they may and hopefully turn out to be the wealthiest/astute owners (albeit collectively at least) this club has ever had, although previous club owners wealth isn't a particularly high bar to begin with.

 

[SwissBlade]

Could we potentially start to lose them or would you say that the club has properly established them (barring going back down to L1 or worse)?

In the potential scenario that the club doesn't do anything in the next few years (i.e. not just return to the PL but finally establish or reach/win a cup final) because if we don't then you could argue the club hasn't progressed during this whole time (haven't progressed in that we're still a second tier club that has few and very brief spells in the top flight so no real difference from what the club was back in the late 90's). Weren't our average home attendances back then around 16k - 18k? You can add another 10k - 12k which rounds off the current average and its these fans I'm more specifically talking about.

No real progress after a substantial amount of time (quarter of a century) = lose 'em eventually, or the club has most likely sustained them despite everything - which one is it?

For me, a big factor in this is whether our new owners can finally push the club on from underachieving for the vast majority of the last 50 years. Although it's still very early in their tenure they may and hopefully turn out to be the wealthiest/astute owners (albeit collectively at least) this club has ever had, although previous club owners wealth isn't a particularly high bar to begin with.

No. We’re in a better position now than we’ve ever been and yet there is no local opposition

 

[Rodley]

Could we potentially start to lose them or would you say that the club has properly established them (barring going back down to L1 or worse)?

In the potential scenario that the club doesn't do anything in the next few years (i.e. not just return to the PL but finally establish or reach/win a cup final) because if we don't then you could argue the club hasn't progressed during this whole time (haven't progressed in that we're still a second tier club that has few and very brief spells in the top flight so no real difference from what the club was back in the late 90's). Weren't our average home attendances back then around 16k - 18k? You can add another 10k - 12k which rounds off the current average and its these fans I'm more specifically talking about.

No real progress after a substantial amount of time (quarter of a century) = lose 'em eventually, or the club has most likely sustained them despite everything - which one is it?

For me, a big factor in this is whether our new owners can finally push the club on from underachieving for the vast majority of the last 50 years. Although it's still very early in their tenure they may and hopefully turn out to be the wealthiest/astute owners (albeit collectively at least) this club has ever had, although previous club owners wealth isn't a particularly high bar to begin with.

No.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

No - next question.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Is there a pandemic or something on the horizon?

We have just finished a season in the championship with 90+ points and got to the play off final and until injuries killed our chances so close to promotion the endless negativity on here by some when it's really been one of our best seasons in decades actually is tiresome

 

[VictoryBlade]

Could we potentially start to lose them or would you say that the club has properly established them (barring going back down to L1 or worse)?

In the potential scenario that the club doesn't do anything in the next few years (i.e. not just return to the PL but finally establish or reach/win a cup final) because if we don't then you could argue the club hasn't progressed during this whole time (haven't progressed in that we're still a second tier club that has few and very brief spells in the top flight so no real difference from what the club was back in the late 90's). Weren't our average home attendances back then around 16k - 18k? You can add another 10k - 12k which rounds off the current average and its these fans I'm more specifically talking about.

No real progress after a substantial amount of time (quarter of a century) = lose 'em eventually, or the club has most likely sustained them despite everything - which one is it?

For me, a big factor in this is whether our new owners can finally push the club on from underachieving for the vast majority of the last 50 years. Although it's still very early in their tenure they may and hopefully turn out to be the wealthiest/astute owners (albeit collectively at least) this club has ever had, although previous club owners wealth isn't a particularly high bar to begin with.

Its not just that the club makes it impossible for casual fans to attend with this membership bollocks! Its held us back for a few years now. I'm not sure what the gripe is with the SAG but they have a lot to answer for. Maybe like the council they are all piggie bastards!

 

[bartman]

Could we potentially start to lose them or would you say that the club has properly established them (barring going back down to L1 or worse)?

In the potential scenario that the club doesn't do anything in the next few years (i.e. not just return to the PL but finally establish or reach/win a cup final) because if we don't then you could argue the club hasn't progressed during this whole time (haven't progressed in that we're still a second tier club that has few and very brief spells in the top flight so no real difference from what the club was back in the late 90's). Weren't our average home attendances back then around 16k - 18k? You can add another 10k - 12k which rounds off the current average and its these fans I'm more specifically talking about.

No real progress after a substantial amount of time (quarter of a century) = lose 'em eventually, or the club has most likely sustained them despite everything - which one is it?

For me, a big factor in this is whether our new owners can finally push the club on from underachieving for the vast majority of the last 50 years. Although it's still very early in their tenure they may and hopefully turn out to be the wealthiest/astute owners (albeit collectively at least) this club has ever had, although previous club owners wealth isn't a particularly high bar to begin with.

Not yet. However we need to get the kids in now as well as students. Thr club could look at deals for the BLUT such as parent plus child under 11 £20 for all.league games or Students 18-21 a tenner for the BLUT. We need to encourage the next generation of fans.

 

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

Looking at all the elderly faces at the Lane, if we lose a chunk of fans it will be due to natural causes rather than anything performance related.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Putting aside the not so small matter that we are a selling club, I can recall a time when it wasn't uncommon
for United to get crowds of 13K, so where we currently are in supporter terms is a huge upgrade on what used to happen over the last 40 years or so. The trick now is to achieve something, be it silverware or promotion that will enable us to become an established Prem club, which will take resources that historically have never figured in this club's existence.

 

[nopigfansintown]

The fanbase isn't static. Some leave, some join.The joiners replace the leavers..at least they seem to be. Two of my mates have died in the last ten years for example. What we don't seem to be doing is growing. Some of the reasons are above. Another is facilities. The Lane is better than the sty but it won't appeal to everyone due to the reasons that have been done to death: legroom, entrance egress, food and drink, toilets, concourses, sightlines etc. That's why we want a ground that is top drawer catering for all demographics.
.

 

[georgebernardshaw]

Looking at all the elderly faces at the Lane, if we lose a chunk of fans it will be due to natural causes rather than anything performance related.

Please “push” off…..

 

[SwissBlade]

Its not just that the club makes it impossible for casual fans to attend with this membership bollocks! Its held us back for a few years now. I'm not sure what the gripe is with the SAG but they have a lot to answer for. Maybe like the council they are all piggie bastards!

You taking the piss?

 

[b1ade4life]

No, we've had a setback but we come back stronger, end of conversation

 

[Rodley]

I would look to some better deals for young kids and students. If we get that right, we could add another 5,000-10,000 on the core support over a decade or so.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Not yet. However we need to get the kids in now as well as students. Thr club could look at deals for the BLUT such as parent plus child under 11 £20 for all.league games or Students 18-21 a tenner for the BLUT. We need to encourage the next generation of fans.

What if you’ve just paid the equivalent of £33 a game for an adult and child u11 via a season ticket?! You can’t then offer every game of the season individually for less than a ST price.

 

[metalblade]

Could we potentially start to lose them or would you say that the club has properly established them (barring going back down to L1 or worse)?

In the potential scenario that the club doesn't do anything in the next few years (i.e. not just return to the PL but finally establish or reach/win a cup final) because if we don't then you could argue the club hasn't progressed during this whole time (haven't progressed in that we're still a second tier club that has few and very brief spells in the top flight so no real difference from what the club was back in the late 90's). Weren't our average home attendances back then around 16k - 18k? You can add another 10k - 12k which rounds off the current average and its these fans I'm more specifically talking about.

No real progress after a substantial amount of time (quarter of a century) = lose 'em eventually, or the club has most likely sustained them despite everything - which one is it?

For me, a big factor in this is whether our new owners can finally push the club on from underachieving for the vast majority of the last 50 years. Although it's still very early in their tenure they may and hopefully turn out to be the wealthiest/astute owners (albeit collectively at least) this club has ever had, although previous club owners wealth isn't a particularly high bar to begin with.

Good post this pal, something I have been thinking about too after seeing the turnout for the play off final and thousands of empty seats. I remember the turn of the millennium when Warnock became manager and the club was on its arse and home crowds were down at sub 15,000 most weeks. Not my favourite two people but over the eight years Warnock and McCabe built up the club year on year to average 30,000 crowds for the Premiership season. Of course being United we couldn't sustain it and decline followed with years down in league one. The pattern repeated itself with Wilder getting us back to the Prem with 30k crowds again until he spit his dummy out, change of owner, more chaos off the field, more court cases etc, same again with Hecky and more owner troubles. It all gets a bit tiresome you get a good championship team together but it is nowhere near good enough to stay in the Premier league so it is all a bit boom and bust and another rebuild when you lose your best players. I can virtually guarantee for the third year running the promoted teams will come back down. The Premier league is a closed shop and killing the game in this country, a lot of people are starting to wonder what the point of it all is. Forest spent money like it was going out of fashion an only scraped survival a few years back maybe that is the only way to get established in the to league now. Unless our owners have very very deep pockets I can't see much changing for us. You have to ask how long fans will put up with boom and bust before interest starts to wane?

 

[bartman]

What if you’ve just paid the equivalent of £33 a game for an adult and child u11 via a season ticket?! You can’t then offer every game of the season individually for less than a ST price.

Maybe not but if they buy a ticket for every home game that would be £460 for the season.( more than a season ticket renewal for the Kop ). We need to encourage new support. Maybe reducing child prices would be a start

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

The way we play is what will drive fans away. Football is an entertainment business and we see too much business and not enough football.

 

[Working Class Hero]

I'm not sure we lose the fanbase any time soon, but something has to be done to encourage youngsters, or it will inevitably not hold up long term.

The ticket prices now are ridiculous, even at the Lane where it's generally always been fairly priced. Add to that the cost of going to away games which is even worse, and the young uns can't get tickets half the time anyway.

 

[Pedro Verde]

Its not just that the club makes it impossible for casual fans to attend with this membership bollocks! Its held us back for a few years now. I'm not sure what the gripe is with the SAG but they have a lot to answer for. Maybe like the council they are all piggie bastards!

Joe Root is brilliant
Im sure you will agree

 

[The Hobott]

No. We are now it. I've seen some local kids cry when given a Wednesday shirt for for birthday/Christmas

 

[FMBlade1]

Is there a pandemic or something on the horizon?

We have just finished a season in the championship with 90+ points and got to the play off final and until injuries killed our chances so close to promotion the endless negativity on here by some when it's really been one of our best seasons in decades actually is tiresome

The fact that another play-off failure is one of our best seasons in decades shows how low the bar is here.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

The fact that another play-off failure is one of our best seasons in decades shows how low the bar is here.

There's 90+ professional clubs who wish they had it as good as we did.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Maybe not but if they buy a ticket for every home game that would be £460 for the season.( more than a season ticket renewal for the Kop ). We need to encourage new support. Maybe reducing child prices would be a start

I agree but it would have to be done at a rate higher than any season ticket prices.

A kop season ticket (general sale) for an adult and child under 17 is £681 combined. That’s £29.60 a game.

The cheapest we could be selling a ‘parent and child’ individual game for on that basis would be £30, I’d say it needs to be £40 though otherwise what’s the point in paying up front for season ticket when if you miss a game or 2 you’re worse off?!

U17 season ticket prices are much higher than they’ve been for a while this season, my son’s 1st one a few years ago was around £50, it’s now 3 times that on renewal. I hope this is not a trend.

Back in’t day I got a free ST with a junior blades subscription of £20. That’s how you attract fans, then you just have to retain them.

 

[Tuns25]

We've been losing fans for the last few years relative to the league/position we've been in.

Very few sell outs in the prem and ST sales down last year and will be again this year.

Enthusiasm has gone flat since the realisation hit home the top league isn't much fun and we've been there done that. The last promotion was the least celebrated in my lifetime. We started to take fans and attendances for granted and stopped working at it

Why give up on selling ST tickets after the first deadline?

What company doesn't try to sell its key product for three months? Particularly as enthusiasm could return with a few decent signings, maybe a new manager etc but by that point we've effectively stopped selling ST as hardly anybody buys at the higher price.

I'd like to see us announce a relaunch of ST at the early bird price open to anyone.

An offer made by the Americans to mark the fresh start under their ownership and a new era.

Pump it up, shout about it get some imaginative social media campaigns etc but try and sell some STs.

We could be 10 points clear playing like PSG and we'll hardly sell any match day tickets. Games are on telly and ticket prices are high.

It's all about STs stupid.

 

[FMBlade1]

There's 90+ professional clubs who wish they had it as good as we did.

See this thread:

https://www.s24su.com/forum/threads...nderachieved-as-a-football-club.103836/page-2

90% of those clubs have either appeared in major final or have won a major trophy or played in Europe at least once in the last 89 years.

Yes most of them would wish they are now where we are now but historically most of them have seen more success than we have. Random example Oxford winning the league cup in 1986.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

It is stupid that we stop selling season tickets when other clubs sell out and have waiting lists

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

Is there a social media marketing policy from Sheffield United?

What is the USP that will attract new support?
Maybe a pre-season tour of the USA?

Apart from matchdays/nights, what supporter's groups are there
to get new people interested in Sheffield United? Do local
areas of Sheffield have supporter's clubs?

Concentrate on the positivity that supporting Sheffield United brings.

You have a population of 600,000 approx, yet less than 5% of the populous
attend home matches, that's not good is it, it should be more. You are the most
successful club in South Yorkshire for almost three decades, don't let that
become an entitlement, aim to build higher and even more stronger.

 

[UddersBlade]

Is there a social media marketing policy from Sheffield United?

What is the USP that will attract new support?
Maybe a pre-season tour of the USA?

Apart from matchdays/nights, what supporter's groups are there
to get new people interested in Sheffield United? Do local
areas of Sheffield have supporter's clubs?

Concentrate on the positivity that supporting Sheffield United brings.

You have a population of 600,000 approx, yet less than 5% of the populous
attend home matches, that's not good is it, it should be more. You are the most
successful club in South Yorkshire for almost three decades, don't let that
become an entitlement, aim to build higher and even more stronger.

Great points you make & if you are an outside to Sheffield …..it is a stark message you are giving! Hopefully a bit of ‘global’ vision from our new US owners will help drag us into the 21st century to properly promote our fine club.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

See this thread:

https://www.s24su.com/forum/threads...nderachieved-as-a-football-club.103836/page-2

90% of those clubs have either appeared in major final or have won a major trophy or played in Europe at least once in the last 89 years.

Yes most of them would wish they are now where we are now but historically most of them have seen more success than we have. Random example Oxford winning the league cup in 1986.

And what about the last 20 or even living memory? 89 years? What a weird cut off point.

Sounds like you would be happier glory hunting some other club There's plenty of clubs who for generations just getting in the premier league would be huge.