Here are the figures for the number of County fans listed as attending home League games so far:

Number of FL games played.......................16
TOTAL HOME FANS.............................49971
Highest....................................................5652 (Crawley)
Lowest.....................................................2161 (Barnet)
Average...................................................2962
Closest to the average.............................2986 (Mansfield)

So far, the average away following
to visit RP for FL games is.........................236
Closest.......................................................231 (Cheltenham)

EDIT: The Forest Green home fans' attendance was 18.3% down on the average prior to that point

We seem to have had a fair few midweek games. That's got to hurt our attendance figures, I guess?

Do we include non-attending ST holders? Suspect there are quite a few exiles who buy one but only rarely make midweeks.

George Street-Bridge wrote:Do we include non-attending ST holders? Suspect there are quite a few exiles who buy one but only rarely make midweeks.

They still count as atendees whether they do or don't turn up.

Look at Arsenal , their ground looks a third empty some games but is still said to be a 'sell out' ,for the same reason

I use whatever attendance is released publicly.
Counting people as being in attendance who aren't in fact there is my personal pet hate.
It's a joke to count people who aren't there.

newgroundrodney wrote:I use whatever attendance is released publicly.
Counting people as being in attendance who aren't in fact there is my personal pet hate.
It's a joke to count people who aren't there.

Its tax ...the club have to declare how many tickets they have sold for each game..As Season Ticket holders have already paid , they get counted

Really? Won’t the VAT (are we talking VAT?) be determined when the season tickets are first purchased?

JonD wrote:Really? Won’t the VAT (are we talking VAT?) be determined when the season tickets are first purchased?

That would be my guess, but that's all it is.

Furthermore, handing out a few hundred comps to schoolchildren would then, if I understand Corky correctly, attract a tax liability, otherwise there’d be no reporting requirement(?).

Gut instinct is that the bigger the (apparent) crowd the easier it is for the club to flog advertising space. And that’d be why tickets sold all count towards the attendance regardless of how many make it through the turnstiles.

None of which explains why turnstiles are necessary, when tickets could just be shown on the way in.
At QPR, they scan your ticket with a handheld device, but they STILL make you go through a revolving turnstile.....

anyway.....

We can only go by the publicised figures. So when I do attendances figures, them's the ones I'll use, however right or wrong.

JonD wrote:Furthermore, handing out a few hundred comps to schoolchildren would then, if I understand Corky correctly, attract a tax liability, otherwise there’d be no reporting requirement(?).

Gut instinct is that the bigger the (apparent) crowd the easier it is for the club to flog advertising space. And that’d be why tickets sold all count towards the attendance regardless of how many make it through the turnstiles.

Would you be liable to pay tax on FREE tickets ????

Even though tax would probably be worked out pre season on how many season tickets you sell you will still have to declare them as attendees i believe pre game...
Even though you have not sold any tickets for future games you still know that x number of season tickets have been pre purchased before a ticket is sold . Hence thats why I believe they declare them even though some may not attend

I’d have thought no, there’d be no tax. I raised it as I would expect those complimentary ticket-holders to be included in the match attendance, but if the match attendance (EDIT: plus absent season ticket holders) is used to determine some sort of tax liability (which I really have doubts about) then including the freebies would mean the taxman would be given a false position of our revenue.

Or, to put it another way, I think you’re wrong

JonD wrote:I’d have thought no, there’d be no tax. I raised it as I would expect those complimentary ticket-holders to be included in the match attendance, but if the match attendance is used to determine some sort of tax liability (which I really have doubts about) then including the freebies would mean the taxman would be given a false position of our revenue.

Or, to put it another way, I think you’re wrong

Why ?
You would declare 'A' season tickets
'B' adult adult tickets
'C' children
'D' OAP tickets
'E' complimentary / free tickets

You would have paid the tax on A previously and be liable on a matchday for B , C, D but E wouldnt be liable as they are FREE

It would also need to be declared so that if by chance every season ticket holder turned up you have enough Policing , stewards , medical coverage etc

Nope that’s definitely wrong. The police want to know how many are in the ground, not how many paid for their tickets but are at home warming their toes in front of the fire while their seat remains empty.

The actual match attendance is recorded for this purpose (edit: maybe - I dunno - also for public liability insurance purposes too?), but then there’s this other, seemingly always higher, spurious figure that we are discussing now.

Interesting thread.

First of all the theories.

Tax. You are liable for tax. That is on receipts not attendance. Rugby teams traditionally don't publish gates but are subject to the same tax law. In terms there is no legal requirement to publish the attendance. Whether it's a league rule or just tradition I have no idea. As for police. Well I am not sure why anyone would think publishing the attendance would allow the police to know how many of Gwent's finest would be required. After all unless they have a time machine it's hardly likely to assist is it? And I think a gate of around 3,000 was always likely for Tuesday's game.

As to whether non attending season ticket holders are included in the attendance figures, they perhaps shouldn't be, attendance is the number who attend. If they are included I have no idea why. Perhaps it's a my willy is bigger than yours type of thing.