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

[ABBEY]

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

waggs if i remember when i sober up tommorow im gonna use this as ny sig!

[Roaming Rover]

Great posts Revidge and Waggy.

I'll be there so will many others, some won't but that's upto them. As I said before there will be people who can not make this game but want to who are probably more deserving of a seat than many of us.

To be honest i'd rather we took 50 people and beat Arsenal than 30,000 and lose.

Anyway 2 days to go, bring on the Arse

[thenodrog]

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.

Good post McClarky. There's an old truism familiar to most people who work in a sales environments that "the most difficult account to get is the one that you have just lost".

This is especially true with BRFC today. The more knowledgable and committed supporters will recognise that supporting any one football team is always like riding a roller coaster. The more knowledgable and committed supporters will recognise the immense change in the club since Hark Hughes took over. The more knowledgable and committed supporters (who are able to go) will have got their tickets for Cardiff. And to date thats about 16000.

BUT

As I've mentioned on the General Election thread dyed-in-the-wool supporters of political parties behave like supporters of football teams and will vote for their party no matter what, and uncaring as it sounds the fact of the matter is that they are not all that relevant. What all parties need to succeed is the 'floating vote'. The ones who change their vote as often as the wind changes. These more fickle people are obviously less committed but it is they that make such a huge difference in both politics and football. Unfortunately these are the people that sometime are given preferential treatment (how many ST holders did the £10 tickets aggravate? Schoolchildren and parents on the cheap did too). Because of our form over the past two seasons, and especially so at Ewood Park, many of the less committed people have simply broken the habit of going to every home game. They will be damned difficult to win back make no mistake.

I have said on here many times, a Prem club needs 35000 gates even when they are average/poor. We can never hope to get that level of support (even with a re-developed Riverside) from our small town, given the nature of the population and surrounded as it is by near neighbours with teams and loyalties of their own. Sure we can try to bus in loads from other areas but all we are bussing in are more of the fickle fans who will cease to come should we suffer a few defeats in succession. Our days in the lower divs tell us the level of true unwavering support that we have.

People will discuss our lack of support for ever and a day before they can bring themselves to accept the inevitable conclusion and the only solution. There are easily 30000-40000 knowledgable and committed supporters in this area within 20 minutes of ground that would provide a superb and strong fan base for a truly BIG club. Trouble is they are divided between 4 or 5 little uns.

Edited April 14, 2005 by thenodrog

[Dan Furness]

DMF,

I very rarely agree with you, but on this occasion I think I do.

"you can stick your lunchtime kick off up your arse"

COME ON YOU BLUES

mmmmmm dont quite know how to take that

well it seems my words fell on deaf ears. To be honest, it wouldnt surprise me if Sky cameras panned in on two rovers fans in the crowd on Saturday... not fighting over the team display, but over the crowd figures/reasons/excuses

end of the day that seems more important than the game at the minute. well done

[Roaming Rover]

Just heard off a mate he has got 3 tickets for Cardiff for £25. Not sure how true this is, but anyone still to get one it may be worth ringing the Ticket Office ASAP.............

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Its time to stop this 'I'm a better supporter than you' ###### and direct all our energy into silencing the Arsenal come Saturday.........

WE ARE THE ONE AND ONLY BLACKBURN ROVERS F.C. .......THE PRIDE OF EAST LANCASHIRE!!!

[LeftWinger]

Just speaking to a United fan at work, and he reckoned they still had 500 tickets left on sale on Monday- which were being sold to any members. So they obviously took their time to sell all their tickets- and they've got a lot bigger supporter base than us. We'll just have to make sure we all make the noise of 2 men. And enough about the crowd- as the great Homer Simpson once said:

"When it comes to sporting events, it's not the winning or losing thats important, it's how drunk you get" LEGEND

[Paul]

There's an old truism familiar to most people who work in a sales environments that "the most difficult account to get is the one that you have just lost".

Wouldn't disagree with any of that theno except to add there is another truism "the easiest customer to sell to is the one you already have"

One issue that is really worrying me is the little discussed initiative by the PL Attendance Working Group. A part of their role is to examine ways of encouraging away support as the PL is now acknowledging there is a decline in the numbers travelling. One suggestion is to reduce ticket prices for away fans. This is a PL initiative not a Rovers idea.

To my mind this reduction will have to be substantial to have an impact, say £10, on anyone considering travelling from or to the south. The thought of 2 - 3000 away fans paying £10 less than our home support appalls me. If we can afford to give £20 - 30000 pert game to the away support surely that money would be better invested in the home fans?

I'll go so far as to say I would not be prepared to pay any more than a visiting fan sitting in an identical seat; i.e the Darwen End versus the BBE.

[broadsword]

There's a general trend of falling attendances in the premiership, it's niot just Blackburn.

Why the hand-wringing? It's not anything anyone on here can do, no-one is going to be able to double the amount of peopel we take.

[SuperStella]

I see John Williams is asking fans to sing ''only one Jack Walker' on Saturday....

Personally, I think he will be turning in his grave at the amount of tickets we have sold.

If he had the same frame of mind as our stay away ‘’fans’’ we would be languishing in the 2nd or 3rd division (at best) now.

Jack Walker never moaned or complained and got on with things; showing passion for his work and his team. Can the same be said about all these excuse makers that can’t make the final? NO.

Its a poor excuse blaming the kick off time etc for the ''no show'' - our home and away attendances have been poor for years... especially away! Everton away is 40 minutes drive; we only took 800 didnt we? POOR

GOD BLESS YOU JACK – Thanks for the memories.

[broadsword]

And how many of those people have got £330 mill in the bank, like Jack had?

"Showing passion for his work and his team" - honestly what a load of old cobblers. Get in the real world mate.

[SuperStella]

In 1995 we played Spurs away & lost… 3-1. If you see the coverage of the game – we must have had 3,000 behind the nets (at least)

The ticket prices will have been one of the most expensive in league (London team) + it was on Sky… so why did we not only take a few hundred then?

[broadsword]

Er ... because a lot can happen in ten years.

You can't take an attendance from ten years ago, compare it to one now, and hope to draw meaningful conclusions from it - what were you hoping to prove?

And as I said, there is a general (recent) trend towards lower attendances in the Premiership - it isn't just us!

[SuperStella]

I'm just trying to outline how many ''supporters'' we have lost...

Yeah I suppose your right - i mean, none of the other teams in the semi finals have sold all their tickets have they?

I honestlly believe that 99% of other premiership would have sold all their tickets for a semi final of the FA Cup - no matter what time the kick off or where it was being played!!

[RovertheHill]

Christ - the sanctimonious and holier-than-thou crap being spouted on this thread is worse than any of the election stuff so far. There are no winners with people like these. When attendances were up during the successful years you were whining about the "glory hunters" and saying you were only a real fan if you were one of 8,000 who saw us beat Gillingham in the "good old days". Now you are only a real fan if you are going to Cardiff for a big game. Make your mind up and get over it. Are we going to have a thread the Thursday after Crystal Palace when we get a sub 20k home crowd - because that's what I predict we'll get

[broadsword]

FFS.

There is a general decline amongst Premiership teams attendances - this ia a % decline. Because there's been a decline from a high figure, it isn't noticeable when it comes to them having to shift 30k tickets for a cup semi-final. Although didn't someone mention that Arsenal were selling their tickets on ticket master?

Not sure every other Prem team would have sold their allocation - Bolton and Fulham might not have, for example.

I don't think we have "lost" fans forever - it's just getting too bluddy expensive at the moment, that is all. I'm sure we'd take a damn sight more than 15k with us if we got to the final ...

[Ewood Spark]

I honestlly believe that 99% of other premiership would have sold all their tickets for a semi final of the FA Cup - no matter what time the kick off or where it was being played!!

Because all the other teams come from BIG cities ..... even Bolton has nearly twice the population of Blackburn. Go into any of the Semi-finalists town/city centers this afternoon and randomly ask people whether they are going to Cardiff this weekend......and the statistics show you are much more likly to find a positive response in Blackburn than any of the other three.

Our fans are no different to any other clubs...good ones, bad ones fickle ones, loyal ones.....the difference between us and the others is that we have fewer in ALL these catagorise......I am sure some people on this site just aren't interested in trying to understand these basic facts.

[whatistechhouse]

In 1995 we played Spurs away & lost… 3-1. If you see the coverage of the game – we must have had 3,000 behind the nets (at least)

The ticket prices will have been one of the most expensive in league (London team) + it was on Sky… so why did we not only take a few hundred then?

I didn't go to that game but I went to the West Ham game (I was only 13 I think) and the amount of Shearing buses' was unbeleivable. Now there is only a few buses for away travel

[Scotty]

I honestlly believe that 99% of other premiership would have sold all their tickets for a semi final of the FA Cup - no matter what time the kick off or where it was being played!!

Because all the other teams come from BIG cities ..... even Bolton has nearly twice the population of Blackburn. Go into any of the Semi-finalists town/city centers this afternoon and randomly ask people whether they are going to Cardiff this weekend......and the statistics show you are much more likly to find a positive response in Blackburn than any of the other three.

Our fans are no different to any other clubs...good ones, bad ones fickle ones, loyal ones.....the difference between us and the others is that we have fewer in ALL these catagorise......I am sure some people on this site just aren't interested in trying to understand these basic facts.

You're quite right ES - been saying it for years on here but certain people don't want to listen. It's usually the same people who call any of our fans who started going in the nineties "glory hunters". And the same ones who accuse anyone who wants to watch a match sat down as lacking passion.

It's all about trying to prove what a top fan they are. As I said before - it's a deep-seated insecurity complex.

[Jimbo]

Where I work, there's only one Arsenal fan that I know, who's going & he's only going because I arranged the transport, he wasn't going to bother - all the others I've been chatting to are saving it for the "big one"

[DARWENTODD]

Where I work, there's only one Arsenal fan that I know, who's going & he's only going because I arranged the transport, he wasn't going to bother - all the others I've been chatting to are saving it for the "big one"

I hope all the people who have been complaining about this, that and the other, are going to get behind the players as much as they been moaning on saturday

[roversmum]

on and on and on and on and on and on.................

Why?

The people who genuinely can't come can't come. End of story.

Those who can't be bothered - is it any wonder when so many 'true fans' moan so much? It truly makes you want to forget the whole thing and go off and do something else! It isn't doing the team any favours (hope to God they're not reading this) and they are the ones who have to do the work!

If you are able to attend this FA Cup Semi and indeed away matches - and are giving others grief for not going - then I have this to say to you:

Just think yourselves lucky that you are in a position to be able to go.

And please - GIVE IT A (rude word I'm not allowed to say) REST

[waggy]

were off tomorrow at 3.50pm from blackburn,going to manny to get the ardiff trian.i'm going to get very merry this weekend.

let's call a truce now,i have had a moan about certian arrangements off this tie,but every rover who wants to go is there.it's not our fault we are poorly supported,a die hard rovers fan is better than ten plastic manc's.

we will go on saturday,what ever the result we will enjoy the day.we have had our up's and downs in the last 10 years,never mind the 35 i have followed them.

this is my 1st fa cup semi final,it maybe my last so i aim to enjoy it.

COME ON YOU BLUES

[adam]

I honestlly believe that 99% of other premiership would have sold all their tickets for a semi final of the FA Cup -

How can you have 99%of other premiership clubs?

(you would need at least 100 clubs in the premier league)

[Dan Furness]

were off tomorrow at 3.50pm from blackburn,going to manny to get the ardiff trian.i'm going to get very merry this weekend.

let's call a truce now,i have had a moan about certian arrangements off this tie,but every rover who wants to go is there.it's not our fault we are poorly supported,a die hard rovers fan is better than ten plastic manc's.

we will go on saturday,what ever the result we will enjoy the day.we have had our up's and downs in the last 10 years,never mind the 35 i have followed them.

this is my 1st fa cup semi final,it maybe my last so i aim to enjoy it.

COME ON YOU BLUES

thats the spirit waggy!