Attendance!

[Vegasblade1]

Great support this season and we've not even played Pigs or Weeds at home yet! So much for the so called Massive!!!

 

[Vegasblade1]

More info on this one

 

[Sheffsteel]

Wednesday are doing the old trick (like at Sunderland, West Ham, Arsenal etc) of reporting tickets sold and not the actual number in attendance. Apparently numbers of attendees are well down this season with plenty of season tickets holders choosing not to attend. For example even the Sunderland fans say that their real average this season is 20K not 27K.

Also SW had over 4K Leeds fans on the away end and over 3K Sunderland fans there too to boost numbers.
Where as our away end has a max of only 2,200.

I’m surprised that Wolves are sitting top of the league playing their best football in living memory and their gates are similar to ours, would have expected more at Wolves.

 

[wizadry]

My guess is, not that it matters, is that we’ll finish 3rd in that table but top in the one that counts.

 

[Coily]

Fair play to Sunderland, watching that fucking rubbish!

 

[wizadry]

Fair play to Sunderland, watching that fucking rubbish!

And fair play to the pigs, for watching that shite!

 

[mancunianblade]

No chance Sunderland are getting that many. Someone aluded to season tickets being included and they are for all teams.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Fair play to Sunderland, watching that fucking rubbish!

The fans on the Sunderland forum laugh at the official attendance figures.
Their fans reckon recent gates are 15 to 20K but they are announced as official gates of 25 to 27K.

It seems that 8000 season ticket holders have recently stopped attending matches at the Stadium of Light.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Under Blackwell we were getting gates similar to now and we topped the Championship on attendances. It shows how this league has moved on in receiving a few bigger clubs dropping out of the Prem and them being replaced in the Prem with relative minnows gate-wise. I think the Championship was third or fourth across the European leagues last year on attendances and it wouldn't surprise me if it moved up a notch this season.

 

[boo radley]

Did JonnyRed(WCFC) count as Two yesterday?
Can just imagine Tyler Durden turning over as he wakes up to be greeted by Jonny's grinning face.
(Get your apron on luv tha mekkin breaki).

 

[Tony]

Great support this season and we've not even played Pigs or Weeds at home yet! So much for the so called Massive!!!

Thought the attendance figure was totally incorrect. Much more than 1000 more than the Reading game. We estimated just after the kick off 29/30000.

 

[Bladesthorpe]

The sad thing for us is we've got the best team we've had for years playing the best football we've seen for years yet only 25,000 of us can be bothered to get off our arses and go. These lads deserve nothing less than a sell out attendance for every home game.

 

[Sheffsteel]

The sad thing for us is we've got the best team we've had for years playing the best football we've seen for years yet only 25,000 of us can be bothered to get off our arses and go. These lads deserve nothing less than a sell out attendance for every home game.

The Wolves fans are saying exactly the same.
They are saying it’s the best style of football they’ve seen at Molineux in decades, sitting top of the league but only getting 25 to 27K gates.

I think our 26K average is really good. Remember we hardly have any away fans this season. For example Derby would have easily brought 4 to 5,000 away fans but were only given 2,300 tickets which sold out before general sale.

 

[allblades]

I raised an eyebrow at the attendance yesterday as well Tony. I certainly would have placed it at another 1000 on what was reported

 

[Vegasblade1]

The sad thing for us is we've got the best team we've had for years playing the best football we've seen for years yet only 25,000 of us can be bothered to get off our arses and go. These lads deserve nothing less than a sell out attendance for every home game.

Think the allocation we give to away fans is poor! Went to the game v Derby with my mate who's a Derby fan and he said they could have sold out three times what we give em!

 

[Sheffsteel]

I raised an eyebrow at the attendance yesterday as well Tony. I certainly would have placed it at another 1000 on what was reported

Agree, everything about yesterday suggests a much higher crowd.

Traffic driving to the ground was busier than normal, normally parking spaces full had to park miles from the ground, much longer queues outside the Kop, BLUT upper tier looked much fuller than normal. I also predicted 28K maybe touching 29K.

 

[Vegasblade1]

Agree, everything about yesterday suggests a much higher crowd.

Traffic driving to the ground was busier than normal, normally parking spaces full had to park miles from the ground, much longer queues outside the Kop, BLUT upper tier looked much fuller than normal. I also predicted 28K maybe touching 29K.

Something to do with BLUT project thing? Season ticket holders moving there making it look fuller?

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

The sad thing for us is we've got the best team we've had for years playing the best football we've seen for years yet only 25,000 of us can be bothered to get off our arses and go. These lads deserve nothing less than a sell out attendance for every home game.

Can’t agree with that. There’s been a significant increase in regulars over the last few seasons and you can’t just magic up attendees.

We’ve built up our supporter base greatly despite numerous kicks in the teeth over the last 10-15 years and it’s still growing. The football we’re witnessing now, hopefully resulting in promotion will maybe see sellouts at the Lane on a regular basis over the next few seasons.

We need to expand the stadium because the way it’s going the fan base won’t be able to grow much further because there won’t be any match day tickets available.

There’s about four thousand home seats to play with at the moment, sounds a lot but carry on at the rate we are and it won’t be enough.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Agree, everything about yesterday suggests a much higher crowd.

Traffic driving to the ground was busier than normal, normally parking spaces full had to park miles from the ground, much longer queues outside the Kop, BLUT upper tier looked much fuller than normal. I also predicted 28K maybe touching 29K.

I think this tends to infer that we too have been including ticket holding non-attendees in previous home gates this season and these attendances were over-egged. Yesterday there was plenty of space on the kop wings, the family stand wings and the BLUT, plus another 1000 or so on the BLLT. No way 29k as that would mean only 3.5k vacant seats and there was a lot more than that.

 

[grafikhaus]

Regardless of those wanting to 'get things going' in the BLUT, we're losing money hand-over-fist with the current arrangements. One of the benefits of being in the Championship is the chance to cash in on away support with teams like Wolves, Villa, Derby, Forest, Leeds, Middlesbrough, pigs, Barnsley, Birmingham and Sunderland all capable of bringing between 3k and 5k. Sorry, BLUT-ers, there's plenty of space in the kop/SS wing and the John St/Bramall Lane end of the 'family stand' (another ill thought-out idea). Chuck in that ridiculous 'pie corner' and we should be looking to maximise take-up in our parts of the ground, not turning away visiting supporters.

 

[Blade56]

Attendance

League position


Where's the gaps?

Massive my bum

 

[Fanny magnet]

The sad thing for us is we've got the best team we've had for years playing the best football we've seen for years yet only 25,000 of us can be bothered to get off our arses and go. These lads deserve nothing less than a sell out attendance for every home game.

Yes its heartbreaking our crowds are as big as they've ever been

Bet you enjoyed it when we were getting below ten thousand in the ground

 

[John Street West Terrace]

More info on this one

All the big boys still to come to lane also , that will be a lot higher come May

 

[LS16Blade]

I note that some Blades continue to propose that we should step back in time (note how few, if any, clubs who historically used to allocate an 'end' to away fans, still do) and revert to handing the Lane end to the opposition. I can't agree, for the reasons that I set out on the last occasion this came up for discussion.

A somewhat different situation, though.

MK Dons have a ground that holds 30,000 and rarely attract above 7,000 home fans.

We have a ground where, if you exclude the Lane End, there are approximately 23,500 seats with what can be considered a 'good' view: 7,500 in the South, 9,000 on the Kop, 2,000 in the South/Lane end corner and 5,000 in the John Street. At present, we can count on a consistent home demand, even for unattractive games, of 23-24,000 per match. For the more attractive fixtures it will be higher.

If we hand the Lane end over to away fans, we are effectively forcing our own fans into rubbish (often restricted view) seats. Why should our own fans, in our own ground, have to sit behind posts on the Kop or on the South side of the Kop where the view includes 2 stanchions obscuring different parts of the pitch, or sit in the bottom corner of the John Street or South Stand, when there are fantastic viewing seats in the Bramall Lane upper?

I know fans who have passed on attending matches in the past because the only tickets remaining in the home stands, when the Lane upper and lower was given to away fans, were 'restricted view' for 25 sheets upwards. You can hardly blame them. Moreover, I believe the club are aware of this and that is why they are now doing what they are doing with the Lane end and it is absolutely the right thing to do.

And that's before we even get into questions about the effect that having a whole end of away fans (in the stand - Lane end upper - with the best acoustics in the ground) has on the atmosphere when we want home games to be proper 'home games', to help the team win more matches.

Yesterday, we had over 25,000 Blades fans paying Category A prices for a not especially attractive fixture. We're already at the point where the amount of available seats affording a decent view, for casual Blades fans wanting attend is down to a few hundred. And with pretty much all of the attractive fixtures yet to come (Sunderland, Villa, Leeds, Pigs, Forest) we're clearly going to be short of seats for our own fans.

Anyway, the BLUT has the best view in the house and there is absolutely no way it should be given to away fans whilst our fans have to make do with seats that are obstructed by pillars on the Kop. The club has got it absolutely right this season and its long overdue.

 

[ghandi]

I think this tends to infer that we too have been including ticket holding non-attendees in previous home gates this season and these attendances were over-egged. Yesterday there was plenty of space on the kop wings, the family stand wings and the BLUT, plus another 1000 or so on the BLLT. No way 29k as that would mean only 3.5k vacant seats and there was a lot more than that.

We also use tickets sold similar to many clubs with computerised sales.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Dull - averaging 15,000, despite these being the most successful years in their shitty club's history.

For that, they deserved the footballing humiliation that was served up to them yesterday during that heavenly 2nd half.

But also, they needed to be shown proper 21st century Yorkshire footballing excellence. Hopefully we game them an example to learn from

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Birmingham game the upper tier is shut. with kid a quid deal thats going to cost us alot.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Wednesday are doing the old trick (like at Sunderland, West Ham, Arsenal etc) of reporting tickets sold and not the actual number in attendance. Apparently numbers of attendees are well down this season with plenty of season tickets holders choosing not to attend. For example even the Sunderland fans say that their real average this season is 20K not 27K.

Also SW had over 4K Leeds fans on the away end and over 3K Sunderland fans there too to boost numbers.
Where as our away end has a max of only 2,200.

I’m surprised that Wolves are sitting top of the league playing their best football in living memory and their gates are similar to ours, would have expected more at Wolves.

I'm not sure why this really matters? They've sold the tickets, so it should count in the attendance.

 

[Fanny magnet]

Birmingham game the upper tier is shut. with kid a quid deal thats going to cost us alot.

Why is it shut ?

 

[leedsblade1982]

The sad thing for us is we've got the best team we've had for years playing the best football we've seen for years yet only 25,000 of us can be bothered to get off our arses and go. These lads deserve nothing less than a sell out attendance for every home game.

It’s for this reason and the word that commercial sales are at capacity why I can see the club progressing the long overdue increases to the south and kop stands. We can’t stand still on or off the pitch.