Average attendance.

[Jacko51]

What effect does the away following have on the average attendance at home?

 

I think he meant away followings at Vale Park. This year we have lost the likes of Crawley, Stevenage and Orient who brought a handful and we've gained Wigan, Shrewsbury, Burton, Bury and Co who will all bring more and boost out home attendances.

[smithie]

If you recall Rob Page's "it's better the devil you know" comment after the offers made to Birchall and Yates etc, I think he meant that by offering them some kind of deal they would be kept on as back-up. He clearly had an eye on several targets and some of those have looked OK, others less so.

 

It's easy to forget that he has been a boss for barely a year and I would imagine that, statistically, few bosses take teams to promotions in their first year or two.

 

Having said all that, it really ****** me off to see Burton ****ing Albion top of the league on tiny gates and with an inexperienced manager!

[Samwelo]

I think he meant away followings at Vale Park. This year we have lost the likes of Crawley, Stevenage and Orient who brought a handful and we've gained Wigan, Shrewsbury, Burton, Bury and Co who will all bring more and boost out home attendances.

 

Ah yes I misread/interpreted. Apologies

[Fosse69]

Referring back to the 60s, the game against Liverpool with a 42k gate put the average up by 2k, so hoping for a couple of big games eh? Plus TV of course.

[geosname]

Sick and tired you may be

He is a couple of facts to help you sleep

At Xmas my personal investment will surpass 3 Million ex purchase price which includes 800k this season

On our turnover we should have a player budget of 1.4M

That is a League 2 budget

 

Its not how much you money you spend its what you spend it on.... then whats done with what you have bought.

The retained list couldnt have helped any.... increased prices couldnt have helped much.... the tail end of last season did some damage... and playing better football with no end result will take a toll.

If you want to get to the championship you have to spend championship money... unless you have a manager who can get results on a shoestring, knows a good player when he sees one, wants more than a draw, knows how to change games, has at least a plan B and doesnt take off the threat and replace him/them with ineffective substitutions.... if your not going to use all the tools in the box why carry them around?

[butt lane vale fan]

Sick and tired you may be

He is a couple of facts to help you sleep

At Xmas my personal investment will surpass 3 Million ex purchase price which includes 800k this season

On our turnover we should have a player budget of 1.4M

That is a League 2 budget

 

But the genuine question is then Norman, how do sides likes Fleetwood, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Walsall, Burton and others survive. These are clubs that would give there right arms to get the crowds we do. Bury got 3000 home fans Sat.

It would be interesting to know what their budgets are??

If there budgets are bigger than Vales, then how do they do it? Can something be genuinely learnt from them. Are their Commercial departments bringing in more. In the case of Bury I believe they have got several investors rather than just one, is this an area you could look at and bring another investor alongside you to help you with the financial burden??

Not a moan and I'm grateful for everything you do, however Its obvious you now love the Club and have become a fan and want it to reach the Championship, so any help to get us there would obviously be a bonus.

And remember even sides like Bournemouth, Wigan, Charlton, Brentford, Fulham used to get smaller gates than us.

[valiant_593]

I slept vey well thankyou Norman.

Im not knocking the extra you have put in and you say its a league 2 budget. That explains why we have so many garbage league 2 and below players.

Instead of having a go at how little budget we have and blaming the supporters for not turning up, maybe you could get some sense from Rob as to how Birchall, Yates, Johnson, Daniel, Lloyd, AJLS, Kelly, Campion and others have used up someof that budget, instead of having two quaity players to help us progress. And why the "extra" you keep putting in gets wasted on talent like Jak McCourt who has come to rot on our bench for a month.

 

Right so McCourt who has had hardly any game time you consider to have talent yet young players like Kelly are garbage? Makes no sense what so ever, young lads won't be perfect straight away, he was rubbish against gillingham but showed what he can do against burnley. So let's let the lad develop instead of declaring him as garbage based upon 2 performances!!

 

Again with AJ how much have you seen to form that conclusion? Or are you just looking at past stats? He has had a couple of 10-20 minute cameos that certainly isn't enough to judge a player on!

[Fosse69]

But the genuine question is then Norman, how do sides likes Fleetwood, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Walsall, Burton and others survive. These are clubs that would give there right arms to get the crowds we do. Bury got 3000 home fans Sat.

It would be interesting to know what their budgets are??

If there budgets are bigger than Vales, then how do they do it? Can something be genuinely learnt from them. Are their Commercial departments bringing in more. In the case of Bury I believe they have got several investors rather than just one, is this an area you could look at and bring another investor alongside you to help you with the financial burden??

Not a moan and I'm grateful for everything you do, however Its obvious you now love the Club and have become a fan and want it to reach the Championship, so any help to get us there would obviously be a bonus.

And remember even sides like Bournemouth, Wigan, Charlton, Brentford, Fulham used to get smaller gates than us.

There are rules relating wages to attendances which Norman has explained previously, and as you say commercial income has to be maximised, no doubt Norman looks around and grills directors when at other grounds. Several of the clubs mentioned are close to Prem/big clubs which reduces attendances. Progress will be slow, but all ideas have to be looked at and developed if appropriate.

[Howjy04]

But the genuine question is then Norman, how do sides likes Fleetwood, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Walsall, Burton and others survive. These are clubs that would give there right arms to get the crowds we do. Bury got 3000 home fans Sat.

It would be interesting to know what their budgets are??

If there budgets are bigger than Vales, then how do they do it? Can something be genuinely learnt from them. Are their Commercial departments bringing in more. In the case of Bury I believe they have got several investors rather than just one, is this an area you could look at and bring another investor alongside you to help you with the financial burden??

Not a moan and I'm grateful for everything you do, however Its obvious you now love the Club and have become a fan and want it to reach the Championship, so any help to get us there would obviously be a bonus.

And remember even sides like Bournemouth, Wigan, Charlton, Brentford, Fulham used to get smaller gates than us.

Wigan,Brentford,Fulham and Bournemouth have had massive backing from individuals.How much is owed to those individuals or how much debt are they in.BTW,Bournemouth are the only club out of them that are in the Prem.

[beasty77]

Page as manager doesn't seem to be winning many fans back to Vale Park. When a manager makes his first sub after 80 mins against Bury, is pretty god damn annoying. As for the squad, starting 11 is capable of finishing 12th maybe. But if we get 1 or 2 injuries then we'll be in a relegation scrap unfortunately, as we got no one on the bench who can turn a game around. Id prefer have quality in the squad over quantity.

[Guest TommyMac]

I don't think it matters one bit how much better the football is this season. IMO the home support will not increase unless we can get into the top six and then I would only expect an extra 500 - 1000 home supporters. I've lost count the number of occasions we have been one win away from entering the top six only to produce an abject performance and lose. I may be mistaken but wouldn't a win at home to Crewe last season have taken us to sixth.

 

For the most part, entertainment value has been much better this season but we're 1 point above the relegation zone when a win 6 days ago would have seen us in fifth place.

[valeparklife]

Smurf - "I will have put in £800,000 this season, £400,000 more than I planned to"

 

How is this possible? I thought Page had spent the budget before we signed Inniss (who was included in that budget). Since then we've only signed Alnwick and McCourt haven't we? And I doubt we're paying them £8k a week each!

[geosname]

There are only 5 points between playoff and relegation.... better football is a start... we need wins and fans to believe we will win and a spirit in the team that shows determination to get the win... then maybe fans/people will show more interest

[phizz]

4,500 to 5000 ish is our crowd if you want any more through the gates the you need results consistently, I feel it's that simple.

[cheshirevaliant]

Smurf - "I will have put in £800,000 this season, £400,000 more than I planned to"

 

How is this possible? I thought Page had spent the budget before we signed Inniss (who was included in that budget). Since then we've only signed Alnwick and McCourt haven't we? And I doubt we're paying them £8k a week each!

 

Plus Hooper. In fairness, the third week in September must be the earliest Smurthwaite has moaned about how much he has put in. Once again, it's a statement from Smurthwaite that leaves more questions than answers. Namely, when are we going to get some degree of financial control to ensure we aren't heading towards administration again (which is where we will be in the not too distant future)? Next time however, we will struggle to get an interested buyer now the ground is separate to the club.