ATTENDANCE FIGURE v BRENTFORD

[werstayinup]

Would other people agree that despite this new ticket system, it's difficult not to remain sceptical over the attendance figures announced at Vale Park?

 

There were definitely more than 7,579 on Saturday - photographs show that the Railway was well over 3/4 full; as was the Lorne St; and with nearly 800 visiting supporters, there must have been over 8,000 at least. Failure to announce the figure during the game would give further proof that it seemed more like a "reliable figure" that was picked out randomly.

 

Last year the Northampton game was a near sell-out, but apparently less than 13,000 were there. Yet take into consideration the stadium's capacity of 18,900, at the bare minimum a figure of 15,000 would have been more believable.

 

In case you're wondering (!), I draw attention to it because the fans ARE turning up in numbers; support for the Vale hasn't been this consistently strong for years and it's a shame that it's not being recognised.

 

I am not sure if this is an accusation of wrong doing in any way but I think you have to be very careful with what you say especially knowing that Smurf does read this site.

[Fosse69]

There are a lot of conflicting figures about the capacity of Vale Park. It used to be about 23,000 even before the Lorne St was redeveloped.

 

The latest figures are as follows:

 

Lorne Street 2500

Hamil Rd 4500

Bycars 4000

Railway Stand 3700

Railways Paddock 3800

 

Add to that another 2500 in the new Family Stand.

 

Then consider the OLD Family Stand (which my guess is that it is not included in any of the above)

 

Lastly you have all the boxes and the directors area.

 

Using the above figures (taken from the current Vale website) the capacity is now 18,500 plus boxes, directors and family stand which should push it over 19,000.

 

When the new Family Stand opens we will be looking at over 21,500.

I think the old Family Stand is to be renamed the corner stand, was originally part of the Railway Paddock, cap 12,000 before the seats were put in.

[Tone]

Erm... I always think it's a good idea to note your mistakes and this is one of those occasions. I owe Tone (and Bede, above) an apology - they were right and I was wrong...

 

I emailed the club as I thought it may be good to get an official word on the club attendance. It is...

 

"19148."

 

That is without the addition of the seats in the incomplete part of the Lorne St. Well, at least you know what the official capacity at Vale Park is now...

 

I'm off to write a hundred lines on "I must get the Vale Park capacity right next time"...

 

However, I still think my rough calculations on the 7,500 attendance on Saturday stand.

 

No need for an apology on my part, Rob.

 

In answer to your previous question, I am tending to believe what the club says these days. I know I have done that in the past and my faith in previous people in charge has been ill-founded, but Smurf seems like the real deal. He will be setting the "tone" for the whole club these days (although I struggle with one person who has been around a while, no names, no pack drill).

 

As regards the club's official response of 19,148, I am sure this excludes the new Family Stand but I wonder if it includes the old one? The website does not specify the capacity of that section, does anyone know? Whatever anyone says about the view, it does have long-term potential.

[robf]

In answer to your previous question, I am tending to believe what the club says these days. I know I have done that in the past and my faith in previous people in charge has been ill-founded, but Smurf seems like the real deal.

 

And I agree with that, regardless of whether he reads the site or not.

 

Logically, why would there be ANY reason for Vale to declare a smaller attendance than the actual one. We're trying to increase revenue to potentially add another player to the payroll.

 

I don't think the Vale would do anything wrong but logically it would be more beneficial to artificially inflate the attendance NOT decrease it.

 

For that reason, and the fact that the owner has done what he said he was going to do, has given straight answers to all questions, I cannot see how the "attendance conspiracy theories" have any credence.

[Tone]

If you look at the first page of THIS THREAD from only a year ago, it seems like the old family stand was between 550 and 600.

 

Also, we never mentioned the disabled stand, albeit a mere 48.

 

Lastly, I am now beginning to think that the Lorne Street Capacity of 2500 is for the whole of the left section and that the whole of the right section will also be about the same - 5,000 in total. I was reminded that, if I'm not mistaken, there are about 1800 available seats on the bottom tier.

 

So I make the completed capacity about 21,600 (if the "Corner Stand" is used).

[butt lane vale fan]

To be honest seeing the que's outside a group of us commented that it looked like there was going be over 10,000, then we got in a saw the wilderness of the Bycars. It really does look embarrassing how empty it looks.

[ollyandpatch]

I stood up in the railway stand when everybody was sitting 15 minutes from the end and said about 7700. So I think the figure is pretty close... The bycars was empty.

[Denry Machin]

I am not sure if this is an accusation of wrong doing in any way but I think you have to be very careful with what you say especially knowing that Smurf does read this site.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Well, despite the numerous thumbs down that my initial post has received, it was never my intention to accuse Vale of wrongdoing. It seems to be quite easy to generate hostility from some people if your thread that doesn't herald anything overtly positive.

 

I'm not trying to bad-mouth Smurf, the man's brilliant and a saviour. An inaccurate attendance can be down to many reasons, and I'm not suggesting it's been the club's intention to de-value the support the fans show. Questioning the accuracy is down to what I see with my eyes, not what I suspect is going on behind closed doors.

 

As I mentioned before, there was barely an empty seat at the Northampton game (apart from the away end, obviously) and so the figure of 12,496 didn't stick right with me, and it couldn't have done with others, surely? Especially if Rob has just received the official figure of 19,148. No way could there have been nearly 7,000 empty seats, 5,000 of which would have to be in the Vale stands.

 

I'm not pointing the finger, I'm opening up a question for other people's thoughts.

 

Regardless, I seem to have opened up a in-depth discussion about the ground's capacity!

[scoob]

Erm... I always think it's a good idea to note your mistakes and this is one of those occasions. I owe Tone (and Bede, above) an apology - they were right and I was wrong...

 

I emailed the club as I thought it may be good to get an official word on the club attendance. It is...

 

"19148."

 

That is without the addition of the seats in the incomplete part of the Lorne St. Well, at least you know what the official capacity at Vale Park is now...

 

I'm off to write a hundred lines on "I must get the Vale Park capacity right next time"...

 

However, I still think my rough calculations on the 7,500 attendance on Saturday stand.

 

Bet you used copy and paste eh Rob? pmsl

[tisdeano]

I guessed the crowd to be 7467 on Saturday amongst friends, I believe the official figure 100%

[steve boomer]

Your maths looks pretty good there, to be honest. If our capacity is closer to 15,500 then I definitely take your point.

 

Sitting in the Railway, it feels like there's much more than 3,500 - but perhaps my estimations are a bit fuzzy.

 

You've all managed to prove me wrong on a forum, and we're still friends!

it could not be 15500 because the away end holds 4500 and there is certainly more than 11000 home seats

[jjvale_03]

Attendance seemed spot on.

 

Not convinced there's 2500 seats in the Lorne Street at present. I think that figure includes all existing corporate/boxes. Also got to remember that when the other side is completed, at least one 'block' has never been developed (closest to the away end) so I believe there'll be less seating there than the Bycars side. Final capacity of Lorne Street when completed will be closer to 4000 than 5000 from my reckoning.

[Fosse69]

Now we are all-ticket, is it not simple to do an audit of tickets sold, including Season Tickets, Boxes etc, that is the upper number, and available on the computer system. The turnstiles count the number of people entering the ground, maybe a chance of electrical/mechanical under/over-recording? Do the scanners just check that the ticket is valid, or do they also signal which tickets have been used, and thus give another attendance figure? If so a comparison of the two figures could be made, and also to the total tickets sold. Could already be underway. Looking at Bycars everybody was dotted about as per seat tickets, altogether there were not many. I believe the gate.

[Fosse69]

Attendance seemed spot on.

 

Not convinced there's 2500 seats in the Lorne Street at present. I think that figure includes all existing corporate/boxes. Also got to remember that when the other side is completed, at least one 'block' has never been developed (closest to the away end) so I believe there'll be less seating there than the Bycars side. Final capacity of Lorne Street when completed will be closer to 4000 than 5000 from my reckoning.

Are the press/media/desks included? Also there is that small concrete structure at the end by the Signal Stand. Easy enough to count tomorrow, seats per row x rows?

[Tone]

Attendance seemed spot on.

 

Not convinced there's 2500 seats in the Lorne Street at present. I think that figure includes all existing corporate/boxes. Also got to remember that when the other side is completed, at least one 'block' has never been developed (closest to the away end) so I believe there'll be less seating there than the Bycars side. Final capacity of Lorne Street when completed will be closer to 4000 than 5000 from my reckoning.

 

I understand what you are saying but, the official site reads:

 

"The Lorne Street Stand is the main stand at Vale Park and has a potential capacity of 5,000 when completed. It also houses 48 directors boxes."