[Archived] Rovers Home Support

[Mike Graham]

The gate against Hull was over 24K with less than 4K visiting fans, for the Arsenal game we had a gate of only 23K with over 4.5K Arsenal fans.....where did all the home fans go?

The Blackburn End Lower v Arsenal was only about 75% full and the Riverside had large areas of empty seats. This was a potentially very attractive game with Arsenal a bigger pulling factor than Hull. There was no atmosphere from the Rovers fans and the BBE was virtually silent for the whole game, even for the 1st 10 minutes it was like a morgue.

I fully realise that there is a credit crunch and even JW admitted in the LET last week that maintaining the home gate is a challenge. The redundancies at Crown and the forthcoming closure of SAPPI will also work against us.

What are we going to do (NO garbage about the multi-faith room on this thread please) about the home gates; how are we going to create an atmosphere because we do not have one at all and the BBE is virtually silent.

Yes attractive football coupled with good results will bring some of the fans back; but I do worry about the future. The excitement of match day is gone and I personally approach each home game, and many away games, with minimum confidence. performances at our home games like Hull and Arsenal will drive away the occasional home fan. and the potential home fan...they do not want to waste good money on rubbish.

Will the Fulham game, coupled with their circa 150 fans, bring us our 1st 16K home league gate for goodness knows how many years?

What are the answers?

A concerned Rover.

[deefus]

Got to agree that the support was absolutely pathetic on Saturday.

In years gone by the BBE was the end with the singers, where have they all gone? It was silent for the majority of the match, and even when they did sing they only knew about 3 songs!

I appreciate what was happening on the pitch is not going to entice many to come back to Ewood, but if there was at least a good atmosphere and you didn't feel like you were sitting in a morgue then people might have enjoyed the experience anyway.

In my mind there are 2 ways that attendances may increase, one is for us to be more successful at home on the pitch. And the second is for there to be a good atmosphere at the ground, with lots of loud singing of more than 3 songs.

[Parsonblue]

Price and a winning team are the two factors that will influence the size of attendances.

We can't escape the fact that economic conditions make attending football matches a luxury for many families. East Lancashire is not one of the wealthier areas of the country to begin with and economic hardships are more keenly felt in this region. The Rovers have done their best to address this issue but it is going to be increasingly difficult to get home attendances of over 20,000 on a regular basis. Much will depend on the travelling support and I suspect that too will fall this season. It will be interesting to see the attendance for the Cup-tie against Everton as this is the third home game in less than a fortnight. Even at a reduced price I fear many supporters will find £17 just too much in the present climate.

The other factor is to have a winning team. I don't actually think that the quality of the football is as important as a winning team. I remember how attendances grew under Howard Kendall in the old Third Division when we went on a long winning run. The football was some of the most boring witnessed as Kendall's philosophy was to grind out a 1-0 win. However, the fans returned because we were winning and gained promption that season. The fans continued to follow the club the following season because we again challenged for promotion using the same philosophy but the quality of the football remained poor.

To be honest I don't think the atmosphere is a factor in people deciding whether to come to a match or not. Personally, I come to watch a football match don't really pay any attention to the singing.

[Sparky Marky]

The board has failed us here. We wanted an exciting manager to replace Hughes and we ended up with Ince. I have a bad feeling, and the fans think that too. Big Sam now seems a good prospect.

Not happy.

[JAL]

Arsenal brought over 5500 fans not the 4500 you quote which makes the home crowd a little bit more alarming, but are you suprised the home crowd is down when standards on the pitch have fallen so badly.

John Williams and the directors have to take the hit firmly on the chin by appointing a no hoper in Paul Ince and co.and sanctioning signings such as Fowler and Keith Andrews got to say i'm not looking forward to the next game at Ewood at all.

[Hughesy]

1 of the things that could have helped this - would of been an exciting name signing - maybe someone like Joaquin.

Arsenal never ever attracts a full house, its probably to do with the fact that we always struggle against them. Better examples of home attendances will be in the league games against the north west teams like City, United, Liverpool & Everton. And dont use the cup attendance as an example.

A couple of wins will fix this hopefully - Yes we may slightly drop on our average this year but aslong as we continue in the premier league then we will be fine. I do agree however that the atmosphere was flat.

Anyone know the home attendance from the Arsenal game last season?

[walk down bolton road]

The board has failed us here. We wanted an exciting manager to replace Hughes and we ended up with Ince. I have a bad feeling, and the fans think that too. Big Sam now seems a good prospect.

Not happy.

Got to agree,the board carry a lot of responsibility here most people did not want Ince and now his bumbling efforts in the transfer market are showing through.His 1 saving grace could be Carlos but his reluctance to play him shows AGAIN he cannot judge a player.But hey the board has significantly paid of most of the debt,and not invested in the team they are happy are you ?.What is the cost of relegation i asked this question on this board weeks ago.

[Sparky Marky]

Yep, and to cap the lack of excitement, we're shipping goals big time. People associate us with a strong defence, and 8 goals against in 2 games just isn't acceptable. If Fulham come here and win, the shyte will hit the fan. Arsenal haven't had it that easy here for years....

[ABBEY]

how much was it on saturday? my brother said he wasnt paying it,he listened.Saturday we sang in the first half ,top right blackburn end but nowhere else can ever be arsed.Fulham I predict 16 ,000.

[Ozz]

Anyone know the home attendance from the Arsenal game last season?

24,917

[den]

Preston Blue, or prestonBlue [whichever], you would have been better asking the question if we were third from the top of the league, not third from the bottom. The reasons why gates are struggling are obvious. That's not all to do with Ince either. The entertainment at Ewood has been absolutely dire for quite a while now.

[Sparky Marky]

Yes Den, but we've always been hard to beat and I can't remember when the defence looked this bad.

[DingleBaiter]

The board has failed us here. We wanted an exciting manager to replace Hughes and we ended up with Ince. I have a bad feeling, and the fans think that too. Big Sam now seems a good prospect.

Not happy.

Think you're gilding the lily somewhat here. As has been proved time & time again, your average Rovers fans looks for reasons/excuses for not attending, and the Ince crunch is a great diversion to blame. The converse would not be true though; if we brought in Mourinho, the Arab money at City and tapped up the best 11 players in the league, the crowd would struggle to grow 10% I'd bet, probably not even 5%.

See, the same people would use a similar excuse, albeit with a different name, if they'd gone for Allardyce. Face facts, your typical Rovers fan is a miserable blighter that if he had to pay to moan would be skint.

[Hughesy]

24,917

Not much difference there then, and we havent really started playing yet either!

Yes Den, but we've always been hard to beat and I can't remember when the defence looked this bad.

Its the same defence as under Hughes - cant blame Ince for that - its the players who need to look at themselves.

Like someone already said, Rovers fans love to pick up an excuse not to attend. The attendances will grow once we start winning - simple!

[DingleBaiter]

Not much difference there then, and we havent really started playing yet either!

Its the same defence as under Hughes - cant blame Ince for that - its the players who need to look at themselves.

Like someone already said, Rovers fans love to pick up an excuse not to attend. The attendances will grow once we start winning - simple!

What's the demographic who we'd be looking to bring in? Not people who would get season tickets I'd suggest (too much commitment, financial or otherwise). It's walk-up casual fans primarily. You know the sort, the ones that say they can't afford it and go and watch Arab TV in the pub and throw the potential ticket money (and more) down their neck. Plus they get the added bonus of being able to pull out daft reasons why they won't go, be it the multi-fudge room, Ince, the kit, etc.

Perhaps if folks realised 27 season tickets were returned to the ticket office by lunchtime the day we sold Belllamy, citing that as the reason, then perhaps people would accept it's unlikely to expect any change in mentality. We've even got someone on another thread claiming organised religion as a reason for not renewing, though I suspect it's another red herring.

The club has bent over backwards to try and build support (especially in the last few seasons), and it's sadly not worked.

[Jim J]

Its not been the same since the drummer left

[MarkBRFC]

Will the Fulham game, coupled with their circa 150 fans, bring us our 1st 16K home league gate for goodness knows how many years?

A concerned Rover.

Not that many years really, we only just got over 16k against Watford the season before last, and the same against Fulham in 2005 which was our first home game of that season.

So i wouldnt be at all suprised if the gate was only 16k on Sat.

[Paul]

What are the answers?

TBH Mike I don't think there is an answer. I'll not go off on a rant about too much football on TV, media exposure etc but I'd argue the situation at Ewood is mirrored around the country. Rovers have the problem of a small fan base and catchment area and if a few hundred stop going it soon shows. Other clubs have a bigger floating or walk-up fan base and if a few stop and a few start going it all balances out. People are falling out of love with the game for a whole host of reasons and Rovers are paying the price. I won't be going to the Chelsea game and probably not the United game because I'm chosing to do something else. CHOSING is the crucial word, there was a time when the weekend revolved around the football, that doesn't happen in our house any more.

I believe we are 800 STs down on last year. Generally the club expect a 10% churn each season so this year at approximatley 5% it's an improvement and suggests the walk-up crowd is the problem.

The club certainly missed an opportunity when appointing the new manager. If there had been a WOW factor it would have helped.

[Mattyblue]

I believe we are 800 STs down on last year. Generally the club expect a 10% churn each season so this year at approximatley 5% it's an improvement and suggests the walk-up crowd is the problem.

The club certainly missed an opportunity when appointing the new manager. If there had been a WOW factor it would have helped.

The walk on fan is defintely the issue, the 15k or whatever season ticket holder compares well with quite a few in the league, however we do not have a large floating fanbase. Last season we had 19/20k home fans on a pretty regular basis, for that to disintegrate so quickly is another sign of the direction the club is heading.

[ABBEY]

how much was it for walk ons v arsenal and fulham?

[Damage]

Perhaps if folks realised 27 season tickets were returned to the ticket office by lunchtime the day we sold Belllamy, citing that as the reason, then perhaps people would accept it's unlikely to expect any change in mentality. We've even got someone on another thread claiming organised religion as a reason for not renewing, though I suspect it's another red herring.

Red herring!? You know nothing about me so please don't presume to understand my motivations and convictions. If you think that the club should be publicly promoting religion that is fine as it is your opinion but I will not support it and will withdraw my financial support next year if the club persists with its ill conceived policy. I wont support the mumbo-jumbo room.

As for excuses, yes I agree there are many people now turned off from football/brfc and in some cases they find reasons to not go anymore - it doesnt make them bad people! At the moment the club isnt helping itself by throwing bloody great bales of hay onto the camel's back!

Previously I have argued that the clubs pricing policy is incorrect and I have seen nothing to change my mind. The fans will turn up vs utd/pool/etc but not for the fulhams, etc (16k next week?). A season ticket is not value for money when compared to individual ticket prices - there has to be a considerable differential so that a season ticket costs the equivalent of 8-10 individual match tickets. People may then buy st because it is value. I would suggest £25-30 for matchday ticket and £200-250 per season ticket. The club may lose some revenue but so what? It is peanuts compared with other revenue streams and surely it would help the team to have 25k season ticket holders?

[Mattyblue]

Previously I have argued that the clubs pricing policy is incorrect and I have seen nothing to change my mind. The fans will turn up vs utd/pool/etc but not for the fulhams, etc (16k next week?). A season ticket is not value for money when compared to individual ticket prices - there has to be a considerable differential so that a season ticket costs the equivalent of 8-10 individual match tickets. People may then buy st because it is value. I would suggest £25-30 for matchday ticket and £200-250 per season ticket. The club may lose some revenue but so what? It is peanuts compared with other revenue streams and surely it would help the team to have 25k season ticket holders?

Rovers will NEVER get 25k season ticket holders, even if they were £100 quid. I agree on the pricing policy you mentioned. As we get a very small percentage of our income through ticket sales anyway, so keeping them affordable is the only option. However, things only seem cheap at first to some people. £249 for a season ticket is a bargain in my eyes, however after its been the norm for a couple of seasons, it no longer seems that way to many.

[Damage]

Rovers will NEVER get 25k season ticket holders, even if they were £100 quid. I agree on the pricing policy you mentioned. As we get a very small percentage of our income through ticket sales anyway, so keeping them affordable is the only option. However, things only seem cheap at first to some people. £249 for a season ticket is a bargain in my eyes, however after its been the norm for a couple of seasons, it no longer seems that way to many.

There must be 60-70k people on the rovers database - and you tell me we cant get an extra 10k season ticket holders? We wont with current ticketting policy because people know they can buy tickets for individual matches no problem and they also know that they dont save any money buying a season ticket. The club have to offer a season ticket that provides value for money compared to individual matchday prices.

I know probably 20-30 ex-season ticket holders and many of them go to 4 or 5 matches a season.

If those individual match tickets cost £100-150 but a full season ticket cost just £200 then surely they would be tempted to buy one!?

[Hughesy]

£17 for Fulham. Probably double that for Arsenal

The club have to offer a season ticket that provides value for money compared to individual matchday prices.

I know probably 20-30 ex-season ticket holders and many of them go to 4 or 5 matches a season.

If those individual match tickets cost £100-150 but a full season ticket cost just £200 then surely they would be tempted to buy one!?

Or knowing the Blackburn public, just not go at all!?

[dr_awol]

1876 diff - hmmm smells like some sort of tax scam

This is down to the credit crunch, simple as, nothing to blame paul ince with here.