If you insist on us being that specific about it, no , nothing, nada , zilch , not a living person would subject themselves to such humiliation willingly, not even with free food and beer and the seat of your choice with a cushion, footstool and a rug for your knees.newgroundrodney wrote:........................................................Kairdiff Exile wrote:At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, we don’t have 800-odd “missing” fans, and it’s inaccurate to portray it as a discrete group of people who are “fickle”.
I’ve said it before, but we have 1,500-2,000 regular die-hards who go to most home games. We then have a pool of about 10,000 semi-regulars who will attend half a dozen home games a season. But those games aren’t chosen at random - they’ll be against bigger opposition, when there’s a lot at stake (promotion / relegation), when the weather’s nice or when there’s a bank holiday (Boxing Day particularly). All clubs attract bigger crowds when one or more of the above criteria are met.
We need to stop slagging off “fickle” or “fair weather” fans, or accusing them of “going missing”. Instead, think about how we can get them to attend 8-10 games instead of 4-6 each year. Doing that is how you build a sustainable fanbase.
Here are a few suggestions:
- “bundle” tickets where people get a discount for attending a number of games during a set period (eg, the Winter Bank Holiday period). 4 games for the price of 3 etc.
- put ALL home match tickets on sale as soon as fixtures are announced each year; if someone has a burst of enthusiasm and wants to book matches for four months hence, make it possible for them to do so!
- review ticketing for families; most attractions offer a “family ticket” (2 adults and 2 or 3 kids), we should do the same.
But the main suggestion is for the 1,500 regulars to stop making themselves out to be somehow superior (and, by implication, the semi-regulars inferior) based on how many games they make. Different income levels, work commitments, family life and a host of other factors mean that some people attend fewer County games than I do - but they’re not lesser fans, and they deserve to enjoy our successes every bit as much as anyone else who Supports The Port.
Edit: just realised Stan made basically the same point two posts above, but much more succinctly!
I was talking about "extra" fans, ie, above and beyond the average up to that point. I made no mention of "missing" fans and certainly made no derogatory assumption of their being in any way "lesser" fans.
I simply asked whether there was anything that may encourage them to return.
In my last sentence I touch on the issue of ticket bundling, on which we probably both agree.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
17NGR - not having a go at you directly at all. You’re an honourable chap! But plenty of those near me in the Hazels complain about “day-trippers” without acknowledging that all clubs - especially successful ones - have a huge pool of fans who only come occasionally, and there’s nothing remotely wrong with that.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
18newgroundrodney wrote:Not being present at the FGR game myself, I can't speak for our performance on the day. The result kind of suggests we were awful, but there may have been moments of hope. Did anyone at the game see any hint of anything that might encourage the extra fans to return....anything that suggests we may win our next game?
The average number of County fans at home League games before the FGR fixture was 3009..... so some extra 848 turned out for the Boxing Day clash with our near-rivals.
Will many /any of them return?..... should we have sold a ticket bundle after all?
The answer is . If you were a floating fan, would you ? the vast majority , if not all probably wont until the Leicester game.
Everytime , ( well it seems that way) , we get a decent crowd the team / management F it up with a poor team performance. Thats why we cant increase the hardcore supporter base
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
19Apart from wrexham game in the cup the two league games we have played to attract 4k plus crowds are yeovil and forest green goals for 1 goals against 10 ffs as you say no wonder the core support doesnt increase
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
20That’s the problem! Unless we win every game the vast majority of the people of Newport won’t come back (unless of course it’s a big game like Spurs or Leeds) .. Only ever one defeat away from floaters saying they won’t return
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
21If you are correct, is it because you believe that the people of Newport are somehow different from people elsewhere or do you believe that is true for every club?Exile 1976 wrote:That’s the problem! Unless we win every game the vast majority of the people of Newport won’t come back (unless of course it’s a big game like Spurs or Leeds) .. Only ever one defeat away from floaters saying they won’t return
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
22I believe we have expessed our differences of opinion on this subject previously. I do believe that a poor run of results will of course reduce attendence at any club, but i'm not of the opinion that the people of Newport and surrounding areas are the same as people from elsewhere. I believe the peoples from every large town/conurbation have differences, wether that be in supporting or not their local football team or in any number of different ways. To stereotype tens of thousands of people from different areas as the same is in my view delusional. The reality is football is more popular in some areas than others , as is rugby or even gealic football.Stan A. Einstein wrote:If you are correct, is it because you believe that the people of Newport are somehow different from people elsewhere or do you believe that is true for every club?Exile 1976 wrote:That’s the problem! Unless we win every game the vast majority of the people of Newport won’t come back (unless of course it’s a big game like Spurs or Leeds) .. Only ever one defeat away from floaters saying they won’t return
Last edited by OLDCROMWELLIAN on December 29th, 2018, 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
23Stan A. Einstein wrote:If you are correct, is it because you believe that the people of Newport are somehow different from people elsewhere or do you believe that is true for every club?Exile 1976 wrote:That’s the problem! Unless we win every game the vast majority of the people of Newport won’t come back (unless of course it’s a big game like Spurs or Leeds) .. Only ever one defeat away from floaters saying they won’t return
Without any information on other teams’ attendances I couldn’t really comment. All I can say is from Newport’s perspective and it’s awful. We could win a quite a few games at home, lose one and suddenly we lose thousands of fans.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
24Let’s face it, you have to be a diehard to be a County fan! Let’s be honest, how often are you in the luxurious position of being a couple of goals up and coasting? Wrexham really was an anomaly due to the dismissal, usually watching us is one long heart attack of hanging on to a small lead or of disappointment . It was ever thus , so unless we start to get a good run of results as we did until the recent series of f*ck ups then following the crowd will always end up in a visit to Tesco’s.
The other cliché and it’s as certain as night following day is that as soon as crowds increase, the team commits football suicide.
The other cliché and it’s as certain as night following day is that as soon as crowds increase, the team commits football suicide.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
25If you have a copy of Amber in the Blood, historically gates have often plummeted dramatically. And now of course social media makes it easy for supporters to turn on players and managers like a pack of dogs after a few poor performances.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
26Would you care to point out the posts where supporters have 'turned on players and managers like a pack of dogs'?George Street-Bridge wrote:If you have a copy of Amber in the Blood, historically gates have often plummeted dramatically. And now of course social media makes it easy for supporters to turn on players and managers like a pack of dogs after a few poor performances.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
27The forum has been riddled with it for years, as has the Argus site and County Chat on Facebook.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
28It seems the victim of choice this year is Wilmott with supporters choosing to ignore how ineffective Sheehan has been all season and wanting him in the side. Perhaps those fans should cross reference the games Sheehan has played compared to Robbie and add up the assists.
Saying this , it was no different years ago , if social media was about years ago , we would have been reading about Terry Lees , Trevor Thompson and Steve Lowndes. Newport fans are no different to any others , they are generally unrealistic.
Saying this , it was no different years ago , if social media was about years ago , we would have been reading about Terry Lees , Trevor Thompson and Steve Lowndes. Newport fans are no different to any others , they are generally unrealistic.
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
29George Street-Bridge wrote:The forum has been riddled with it for years, as has the Argus site and County Chat on Facebook.
Please could you flag up the threads on this board where supporters have behaved like a pack of dogs?
Re: The extra 848 fans.....will they return?
30I agree.Alan G Bryant wrote:
Newport fans are no different to any others , they are generally unrealistic.
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