[Archived] "rovers May Take Less Than 15,000"

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

David Brent - I have no problem with your views on our perspective attendance at Cardiff. Football is all about opinions - you have yours on this subject and I have mine.

I feel that this match is different in perspective to the ones that you mentioned - especially as (which ever way you look at it) this isn't a final, but the cost for many will be equivalent.

However - I think we will all agree when I say sod the attendance - as long as we win - who cares. A match against Newcastle is destined in the stars

[thenodrog]

Put simply ...if Blackburn, the town, was twice the size it actually is in population terms we would have sold all the tickets. Put another way.....there will be more non-attending 'fans' (with 'can't afford it' excuses etc.) from the other three semi-finalists' cities than there will be from Blackburn. Bet Newcastle, London and ..er..Surrey pubs are just as full of 'deadheads' this weekend as the pubs of Blackburn.

Good point ES. And even more commendable are those figures when taking into account the fact that there is a significant %age of the population of Blackburn who would never claim any allegiance to Blackburn Rovers and would never dream of going to Ewood Park.

[thenodrog]

It's not rocket science LD. There were only a limited number of cheaper tickets available and they got snapped up pretty quickly (apart from the odd single ticket).

I'm sure lots of us applied for the cheaper ones, I know I did, but by the time the club processed my application they'd gone. There's not been any left for at least a week now.

In my understanding Scotty the FA insisted that all the tickets were sold in one given block before allowing the next block to go on sale when there would again be 25 and 35 quid tickets available.

We just copped out on the cheaper tickets simply because when we turned up at the kiosk they were coming to the end of the particular block and all the cheap tickets had gone. Most unsatisfactory state of affairs and just another way to maximise income at the expense of the supporters by the FA imo.

[RevidgeBlue]

because we took 30k to cardiff 3 years ago at a 2pm kick off, although it was a final but of a much lesser competition. because we took 33k to wembley in 92 when we were a much smaller club. because, Id guess we took far more to the meaningless charity shield games, certainly v united in 94, than the 16 - 17k we are taking to cardiff on sunday. because, id guess 25 - 30 k, although i stand to be corrected, went to wembley in 87 v charlton, in the era when we did get the 7k gates you refer to.

Thats why our following for the semi should be much bigger than it is now. The above facts show how our following for the coming semi is abysmal, and embarassing. Were not a one man and his dog outfit, the above shows for our big occasions in recent years we have churned out some very good followings. Where are they now?

I understand there will be rovers fans (families) staying at home because they couldnt afford £180 for tickets plus travel etc. Thats understandable. However, for many other rovers 'fans', it was a case of couldn't be bothered to go, and cost, travel, time provided an excuse not to go.

ps. as for people on this thread criticising myself and others for raising our views on the subject, I do believe this particular thread is concerned with the lack of support at cardiff, and that we are entiltled to our views, however unpopular with some.

Are you actually going yourself?

The reason I ask is that generally it seems the people who make the most noise about our level of support don't go themselves.

People who find the club "embarrassing" because of our followings really get on my nipples. It's all about supporting your team, your club. What does it really matter to you if x thousand people you've never met choose to go or not? It's a matter of choice, it's not compulsory, and you can't force anyone to go.

More to the point where were all these people "embarrassed" now by 20,000 gates when we were getting 7,000 gates in the 80's in division 2 or even 4,000 in division 3 in the 70's?

Probably not even born then but if they were no doubt they wouldn't have supported us because it would be far too "embarrassing" being associated with such an unfashionable club or being seen in such a small crowd.

A "proper" fan (God I hate that phrase) would support us no matter what and wouldn't be particularly concerned if there were 3,000 or 30,000 like minded souls alongside him or her. (Although obviously the latter is nicer)

And if I read once more that someone going to this one off game is more of a "proper" fan than a season ticket holder who forks out his money season after season I think I'll scream.

RANT OVER:

P.S. After all the hot air expended on this thread it's a 4am start, it's live on TV, it's mostly £45 per head with no reductions for kids, we currently average only 19,000 at home with 14,000 season ticket holders. Yet we're now looking like taking a respectableish 16,500.

Much ado about nothing? If you must have a moan direct it at the FA not your fellow supporters.

NOW CAN WE FINALLY GET DOWN TO TALKING ABOUT THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS? TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO WIN THIS BLOODY GAME OF FOOTBALL!!!

[thenodrog]

I do think that we as supporters must individually be prepared to put in more effort and expense if we want to enjoy our town having a club in the Prem.

Simple arithmatic necessitates as much.

[Ewood Spark]

Put simply ...if Blackburn, the town, was twice the size it actually is in population terms we would have sold all the tickets. Put another way.....there will be more non-attending 'fans' (with 'can't afford it' excuses etc.) from the other three semi-finalists' cities than there will be from Blackburn. Bet Newcastle, London and ..er..Surrey pubs are just as full of 'deadheads' this weekend as the pubs of Blackburn.

Good point ES. And even more commendable are those figures when taking into account the fact that there is a significant %age of the population of Blackburn who would never claim any allegiance to Blackburn Rovers and would never dream of going to Ewood Park.

mmmmm......you just can't help yourself can you? That is of course if I'm thinking what i think your thinking

[thenodrog]

Dunno what you mean ES. But I can tell you that I was always brought up to "Tell the truth and shame the Devil". And there's nothing wrong with that is there?

[blue phil]

Put simply ...if Blackburn, the town, was twice the size it actually is in population terms we would have sold all the tickets. Put another way.....there will be more non-attending 'fans' (with 'can't afford it' excuses etc.) from the other three semi-finalists' cities than there will be from Blackburn. Bet Newcastle, London and ..er..Surrey pubs are just as full of 'deadheads' this weekend as the pubs of Blackburn.

Good point ES. And even more commendable are those figures when taking into account the fact that there is a significant %age of the population of Blackburn who would never claim any allegiance to Blackburn Rovers and would never dream of going to Ewood Park.

mmmmm......you just can't help yourself can you? That is of course if I'm thinking what i think your thinking

Leave him alone - he comes from a hard working family...

Edited April 13, 2005 by blue phil

[Claytons Left Boot]

Good point ES. And even more commendable are those figures when taking into account the fact that there is a significant %age of the population of Blackburn who would never claim any allegiance to Blackburn Rovers and would never dream of going to Ewood Park.

Said virtually the same thing today at work to a Sheffield United supporter. When he spotted my Rovers sweatshirt he asked if I were going to Cardiff.

"Sure am" I replied.

"You'll have sold out, won't you?" says he.

"Erm no" I offered.

"What!" says he again, "It's a semi final. When we played in the playoffs we sold out."

"But Sheffield is five times the size of Blackburn" I inform him.

"Oh" he adds with a puzzled look on his face.

"And there is an ethnic population of around 26% or 26k in Blackburn, most of whom choose not to attend games at Ewood, so you could say the population of Blackburn is only around 74k so the amount of fans we are taking to Cardiff isn't too bad.

Did, of course, also tell him we sold 30k for the Worthington Cup Final without the tickets going on general sale.

[robbojohnno]

you could have just told us the facts instead of tellin us in a story with a sheff utd fan. onli mess

[Flopsy]

only messing

go on try it, spell properly like wot we do

[McClarky]

Whatever the reasons its very worrying that we can only muster 15,000 for a cup-semi. This is a good crowd for the size of the town etc but ask yourselves how many any of the other local teams would take for such a huge 1 off game. We can't argue that its because we are used to this kind of game can we as its the first time in 45 years we've got there. I think there is such a sence of lethargy around the club at present that people can't be bothered to make the effort and that is worrying. You go to Ewood or even away games at the moment and everyone just sits and watches, there's no enthusiasm and no player/fan link at all. Its all very flat, even now we are doing quite well. I thought that beating the Dingles and having a good run would turn things around, like it did in 2000/01 under Souness, but this hasn't happened yet.

I reckon that if things were going better and people were a bit more upbeat we would have had 25,000 down in cardiff come what may.

[USABlue]

because we took 30k to cardiff 3 years ago at a 2pm kick off, although it was a final but of a much lesser competition. because we took 33k to wembley in 92 when we were a much smaller club. because, Id guess we took far more to the meaningless charity shield games, certainly v united in 94, than the 16 - 17k we are taking to cardiff on sunday. because, id guess 25 - 30 k, although i stand to be corrected, went to wembley in 87 v charlton, in the era when we did get the 7k gates you refer to.

Thats why our following for the semi should be much bigger than it is now. The above facts show how our following for the coming semi is abysmal, and embarassing. Were not a one man and his dog outfit, the above shows for our big occasions in recent years we have churned out some very good followings. Where are they now?

I understand there will be rovers fans (families) staying at home because they couldnt afford £180 for tickets plus travel etc. Thats understandable. However, for many other rovers 'fans', it was a case of couldn't be bothered to go, and cost, travel, time provided an excuse not to go.

ps. as for people on this thread criticising myself and others for raising our views on the subject, I do believe this particular thread is concerned with the lack of support at cardiff, and that we are entiltled to our views, however unpopular with some.

Are you actually going yourself?

The reason I ask is that generally it seems the people who make the most noise about our level of support don't go themselves.

People who find the club "embarrassing" because of our followings really get on my nipples. It's all about supporting your team, your club. What does it really matter to you if x thousand people you've never met choose to go or not? It's a matter of choice, it's not compulsory, and you can't force anyone to go.

More to the point where were all these people "embarrassed" now by 20,000 gates when we were getting 7,000 gates in the 80's in division 2 or even 4,000 in division 3 in the 70's?

Probably not even born then but if they were no doubt they wouldn't have supported us because it would be far too "embarrassing" being associated with such an unfashionable club or being seen in such a small crowd.

A "proper" fan (God I hate that phrase) would support us no matter what and wouldn't be particularly concerned if there were 3,000 or 30,000 like minded souls alongside him or her. (Although obviously the latter is nicer)

And if I read once more that someone going to this one off game is more of a "proper" fan than a season ticket holder who forks out his money season after season I think I'll scream.

RANT OVER:

P.S. After all the hot air expended on this thread it's a 4am start, it's live on TV, it's mostly £45 per head with no reductions for kids, we currently average only 19,000 at home with 14,000 season ticket holders. Yet we're now looking like taking a respectableish 16,500.

Much ado about nothing? If you must have a moan direct it at the FA not your fellow supporters.

NOW CAN WE FINALLY GET DOWN TO TALKING ABOUT THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS? TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO WIN THIS BLOODY GAME OF FOOTBALL!!!

Yeah yeah and yeah again. Way to go Rev. My Alarms going to be set for 3 am, course I don't have to travel or pay.

As for getting up early what about in the old days when you had to travel on the coach overnight to get to places like Brighton and Southampton.

[Claytons Left Boot]

you could have just told us the facts instead of tellin us in a story with a sheff utd fan. onli mess

Any story needs a crap build up.

[Billinge End Blue]

McClarky - is this bigger than the Worthington Cup Final game?

To be honest, big games always draw the more casual fan for all clubs and the fact that we were in Cardiff a couple of years ago means that, for them, the novelty factor is not the driving force it was then....

Not disputing your assessment of the general support levels though ( but that is applicable not only to Rovers fans but across the game, even in Milan ).

[ah]

RIGHT, I dont feel guilty any more been down today and bought my ticket just me on me own youngster does not want to go at that time in the morning. Just to put things into prospective if she had wanted to come then its another £45 for a ticket. Compare to £75 for her season ticket ? Summat dont add up!!!!!!

[waggy]

i thought long and hard about this,and you can do wonders with figures,here's my attempt to justify why WE CANNOT SELL OUR TICKETS.

each team recieved 31k,around that figure anyway.

31k is about 40%off utd's home support

31k is about 60% off newcastles home support

31k is about 85% off arsenal's home support

31k is about 70% more than our home support

if we take 15k to cardiff we will take about 85% off our home support,easy ain't it

[AlanK]

Thats one of the more sensible posts on the situation.

Can`t wait now.

Anyone elses week dragging?

[Billy Castell]

No, as it's my birthday tomorrow.

[colin]

Good point ES. And even more commendable are those figures when taking into account the fact that there is a significant %age of the population of Blackburn who would never claim any allegiance to Blackburn Rovers and would never dream of going to Ewood Park.

Bloomin' women eh?

[Eddie]

Thats one of the more sensible posts on the situation.

Can`t wait now.

Anyone elses week dragging?

Mine is beginning to, especially with all the work I have to do. Just can't wait until Saturday 1:45 (my time). I need it, this week hasn't been great. Though I might not be so happy if we get stuffed, won't really make anything better, but here's hoping for a win to put a smile on my face for weeks.

[1864roverite]

work ?

Finished tonight and should have worked tomorrow morning, now got the whole weekend off from today ! call it an extra extra long weekend. Now just have to get the wife's 40th do out of the way and I am set for the land of sheep and wellies

[Tony Diamond Inc]

Are you actually going yourself?

The reason I ask is that generally it seems the people who make the most noise about our level of support don't go themselves.

People who find the club "embarrassing" because of our followings really get on my nipples. It's all about supporting your team, your club. What does it really matter to you if x thousand people you've never met choose to go or not? It's a matter of choice, it's not compulsory, and you can't force anyone to go.

More to the point where were all these people "embarrassed" now by 20,000 gates when we were getting 7,000 gates in the 80's in division 2 or even 4,000 in division 3 in the 70's?

Probably not even born then but if they were no doubt they wouldn't have supported us because it would be far too "embarrassing" being associated with such an unfashionable club or being seen in such a small crowd.

A "proper" fan (God I hate that phrase) would support us no matter what and wouldn't be particularly concerned if there were 3,000 or 30,000 like minded souls alongside him or her. (Although obviously the latter is nicer)

And if I read once more that someone going to this one off game is more of a "proper" fan than a season ticket holder who forks out his money season after season I think I'll scream.

RANT OVER:

P.S. After all the hot air expended on this thread it's a 4am start, it's live on TV, it's mostly £45 per head with no reductions for kids, we currently average only 19,000 at home with 14,000 season ticket holders. Yet we're now looking like taking a respectableish 16,500.

Much ado about nothing? If you must have a moan direct it at the FA not your fellow supporters.

NOW CAN WE FINALLY GET DOWN TO TALKING ABOUT THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS? TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO WIN THIS BLOODY GAME OF FOOTBALL!!!

Brilliant!

[Scotty]

Are you actually going yourself?

The reason I ask is that generally it seems the people who make the most noise about our level of support don't go themselves.

People who find the club "embarrassing" because of our followings really get on my nipples. It's all about supporting your team, your club. What does it really matter to you if x thousand people you've never met choose to go or not? It's a matter of choice, it's not compulsory, and you can't force anyone to go.

More to the point where were all these people "embarrassed" now by 20,000 gates when we were getting 7,000 gates in the 80's in division 2 or even 4,000 in division 3 in the 70's?

Probably not even born then but if they were no doubt they wouldn't have supported us because it would be far too "embarrassing" being associated with such an unfashionable club or being seen in such a small crowd.

A "proper" fan (God I hate that phrase) would support us no matter what and wouldn't be particularly concerned if there were 3,000 or 30,000 like minded souls alongside him or her. (Although obviously the latter is nicer)

And if I read once more that someone going to this one off game is more of a "proper" fan than a season ticket holder who forks out his money season after season I think I'll scream.

RANT OVER:

P.S. After all the hot air expended on this thread it's a 4am start, it's live on TV, it's mostly £45 per head with no reductions for kids, we currently average only 19,000 at home with 14,000 season ticket holders. Yet we're now looking like taking a respectableish 16,500.

Much ado about nothing? If you must have a moan direct it at the FA not your fellow supporters.

NOW CAN WE FINALLY GET DOWN TO TALKING ABOUT THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS? TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO WIN THIS BLOODY GAME OF FOOTBALL!!!     

Brilliant!

Don't often get the chance to agree with Rev and TDI - so I can't let this one go. Nice one Rev.

[Tony Diamond Inc]

That's twice this year Scotty, people are gonna talk