Just been looking at so old programmes from 75-76 season our gates where shocking less than 1100 for league games v Watford

So perhaps or 3000 odd this season isn't so bad

Jim, I regularly read on here about gates that we supposedly had in the 60's and 70's. We have been informed on occasions that sometimes these gates were in the region of 5-6000. That may be true for the odd games. FA Cup probably.

During these times before I moved away from Newport I was a regular attender at Somerton Park. I often remember looking at the attendance figures in the Sunday papers and sometimes seeing it in the low 2000's. I remember thinking at the time that those figures were not sustainable for a club like ours. Where people get these other figures from I do not know.

Low attendance figures for the County are a historic fact. In my lifetime this has nearly always been the case unfortunately. I think the figure of 3,100 for Stevenage was quite good, could have been better but nevertheless, quite good for us.

pembsexile wrote:Jim, I regularly read on here about gates that we supposedly had in the 60's and 70's. We have been informed on occasions that sometimes these gates were in the region of 5-6000. That may be true for the odd games. FA Cup probably.

During these times before I moved away from Newport I was a regular attender at Somerton Park. I often remember looking at the attendance figures in the Sunday papers and sometimes seeing it in the low 2000's. I remember thinking at the time that those figures were not sustainable for a club like ours. Where people get these other figures from I do not know.

Low attendance figures for the County are a historic fact. In my lifetime this has nearly always been the case unfortunately. I think the figure of 3,100 for Stevenage was quite good, could have been better but nevertheless, quite good for us.

I agree with this. In fact my history of attendence js very similar to yours, Regular at somerton park from early sixties until leaving Newport in 77. My recollection is that attendences gradually dropped throughout this period, partly due to 'Match of the day' and more football on the television in general. I also recall occassions when attendences were below 2,000 if weather was particularly bad.

Since my retirement has fortunately co-incided with our return to the EFL and living locally i am again a regular attender. I have to note that there is a greater percentage of female supporters nowadays (good to see) and of course the facilities are far greater at RP than the relative sh*thole that was Somerton Park. Whilst i would love to see greater attendences, as i have said many times Newport has always been more of a rugby town/city than a football one and we will never be a well attended side, except for the occassional cup match/ survival game or hopefully a promotion game.


Will we be sustainable in the long term on gates of around 3,000, i'm not too sure; but what i am sure of for now i have never enjoyed the football and atmosphere at games so much as i have this year. Long may it continue.

Spot on with the 2,000 or so but significantly higher prior to that.

http://www.european-football-statistics ... ontent.htm

Thank you! I have been looking for a site with those stats for ages.

One other thing the game by game stats in Amber in the Blood show is how quickly gates slumped after a few poor results.

There were a few seasons in the 70s where it was a toss up between us and Halifax for who would have the season's first gate below 1,000. Halifax usually won.

Somerton Park had a capacity of 20,000. I remember a Boxing Day fixture against Chester with a 7,000 gate. If the ground was only a third full I'm the monkey's uncle.

Cash only in those days. Go figure.

The biggest gate I was ever in there was a whisker over 16,000 and you couldn't move. No earthly way they could have added a further 25 per cent. And in the era of dogs then speedway, was there room for any spectators at all at the railway end?

What was the catalyst in the late 50's for crowds to fall from 9,000-odd to to 3,000-odd in the space of a few years?

Lack of success? Closure of some local workplace I'm not aware of? Weird how they fell so quickly and then never recovered.

If anyone has an old programme from the year we beat Walsall away at Fellows Park, that is reasonably comparible to today. In those days gates were given inclusive of away fans, so it's harder to guage the depth of support there was for County themselves.....but have a look. Were our gates higher then or lower than our current average of 3126... and remember to look at the first 7 home games. Higher or Lower?.....

Attendances for 1979-80.

Edit: fixed [url]

OK. Here are the actual figures for 1979-80, 4th tier (old Div 4):
First seven home games:

Port Vale..........................4008
York City...........................3818
Bradford...........................4089
Northampton....................3185
Lincoln City.......................4035
Aldershot..........................3782
Tranmere..........................4052

AVERAGE........................3852

This is 21.8% up on this season's average at the same stage of the season, of 3162.

rncfc wrote:What was the catalyst in the late 50's for crowds to fall from 9,000-odd to to 3,000-odd in the space of a few years?

Lack of success? Closure of some local workplace I'm not aware of? Weird how they fell so quickly and then never recovered.

That would coincide with most households getting their first TV.

newgroundrodney wrote:OK. Here are the actual figures for 1979-80, 4th tier (old Div 4):
First seven home games:

Port Vale..........................4008
York City...........................3818
Bradford...........................4089
Northampton....................3185
Lincoln City.......................4035
Aldershot..........................3782
Tranmere..........................4052

AVERAGE........................3852

This is 21.8% up on this season's average at the same stage of the season, of 3162.

Considering the saturation of live football on our screens and the fact we have lost one, maybe two generations of supporters I think attendances of 3,000 plus are quite remarkable.

Alan G Bryant wrote:

newgroundrodney wrote:OK. Here are the actual figures for 1979-80, 4th tier (old Div 4):
First seven home games:

Port Vale..........................4008
York City...........................3818
Bradford...........................4089
Northampton....................3185
Lincoln City.......................4035
Aldershot..........................3782
Tranmere..........................4052

AVERAGE........................3852

This is 21.8% up on this season's average at the same stage of the season, of 3162.

Considering the saturation of live football on our screens and the fact we have lost one, maybe two generations of supporters I think attendances of 3,000 plus are quite remarkable.[/quote
So do i