Obviously our attendances rose in Jack’s time and peaked at the time of our greatest success. There were fluctuations over the following years, largely depending on the pricing. You’d be mad not to expect some drop off when we were relegated from the Premier League, but not to the extent we saw. Back to the point I made in the earlier post the hardcore or core support should’ve grown. It’s crazy to presume that the 10-15k we’d grown the fanbase by during the Walker years were all flighty, fairweather spectators there for a day out, who’d simply stop bothering once Ipswich were coming to town instead of Man Utd. As I said before, there is only one comparable “off a cliff moment” in our history. 1960. See the fairly crude graphs below! What we have now isn’t a natural level, it’s a fanbase that has been battered down by poor ownership decisions and a badly run club. There are a large number of supporters who are still engaged enough to care deeply about the club who don’t attend games for a multitude of reasons. Price is a big one, obviously, but there are plenty of people on this forum who aren’t priced out but have made a conscious decision not to attend. They still care enough to come on here and be furious about our transfer ineptitude, analyse our performances, and discuss all things Rovers with fellow fans. And there’s lots more in the wider world. You could argue that in the 80s pretty much anyone who was really interested would go to games. It’s not the case now. There’s a hell of a lot more the club need to be doing to re-engage the existing supporter base, and that’s before we start talking about attempts to grow it.

Obviously yes. Don’t know which individual is ultimately responsible but they need removing from their post.

I’m late to this but… considering what happened between 1992 and 2010, our hardcore number should’ve grown. And it did. In 99/00 and 00/01 we were nearly at a 20k average in the second tier. The hardcore aren’t the same individuals for the most part. Someone who attended their first match as a 10 year old in 1992, and caught the bug is 40 now. A 40 year old who was one of the 8,000 in the early 70s likely won’t be around. If we accept a percentage of all attending fans will be fanatical, with a period of success, and consistently higher attendances throughout the 90s our fanbase should’ve grown to the point where the hardcore wasn’t slipping back to pre-Jack levels. Venky’s are responsible for the absolute decimation of our crowds. The only thing comparable to the effect they have had is the drop off and widespread falling out with the club that occurred as a result of the 1960 cup final. That took nearly 30 years to turn around. I worry that phrases like “natural level” or “core support” give a pass, or at least make it easier for Waggott and co. to shrug their shoulders and not bother trying to reverse the trend.

I’ve seen Bradford mentioned too, but to be honest I don’t really care enough to look. If other clubs have been stupid enough or too last minute to submit completed deals on time it’s on them, just like our issues are on us.

Plenty on Twitter are absolving Rovers of any blame for this debacle. All the EFL’s fault apparently. The mind boggles.

Are you excusing the incompetence of Rovers staff then?

Is Ian Silvester - Club and Company Secretary getting off a bit lightly here?

Really? It sounds utterly incompetent.

I wish they’d just put us out of our misery one way or the other over this transfer debacle.

They will probably be late to the appeal hearing.

I suppose it remains to be seen, but it’s the only whisper I’ve heard. Everyone else seems to have no clue what’s going on.

Apparently the deal has been rejected and we have an appeal at 4pm.

They don’t all have a happy ending.

What must O’Brien be making of all this?!

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we tried to just omit that particular bit of the paperwork hoping nobody would notice, as I’d be amazed if that potential expenditure would ever be sanctioned.

I reckon a desperate, frivolous appeal is happening right now.

It’s utterly bizarre that a multi-billion dollar industry is still reliant on physical form filling in by the sounds of things. If we are genuinely still using faxes it’s completely baffling. You’d think there’d be some sort of online portal. If there is there’s no excuses for missing deadlines.

Cheers! Hopefully I can make it

Am I right in thinking this game is now at Leyland? I bought the three ticket deal months ago when it was planned to be played at Ewood. Not sure if the tickets will still be valid, or if I can make it to Leyland on time.

I still think there must have been some last minute change of tack from Venky’s, possibly after someone on the ground at Ewood pleaded a case. One minute we are scratting around trying to find players within a very limited budget and not bringing in a cheap keeper til one goes. All of a sudden we are lining up a move for an in demand premier league player, on high wages, with a big clause, where other championship clubs “couldn’t make the finances work”. Its entirely possible there was some heel dragging, back tracking or back and forth that caused delays.

Deafening silence while the fans work themselves into a frenzy is a poor attempt at softening the blow!

The Venky effect in picture form

Every transfer window ends up somewhere in between better than feared, and worse than I hoped for. If we sign O’Brien it’ll be better than I expected. If we haven’t signed a striker I won’t be surprised.

O’Brien and the Rochdale young un in, Markanday out apparently.

I was going to say I hope the outcome is the same this time, but that breakfast was probably the high point of Slew’s stay.