dwindling crowds/atmosphere

[Spunk Trumpet]

We HAVE played some good, exciting football (Millwall & Scunthorpe in particular)and there have been some good, exciting games or spells of games (coming from behind to salvage a point versus Charlton and Oxford, coming behind to win against Fleetwood, coming behind against Oldham in a decent game after the break). Not really "rubbish" performances, are they?

 

You really are clutching at straws if you are suggesting any part of that Charlton game was exciting.

We scraped a draw in a game we should have been four down at half time Andy the football on offer was nothing short of garbage.

[Spunk Trumpet]

I don't think so, if you just wanted to eat in comfort Macdonald's is cheaper and has more comfortable seats. You don't have to pay to get in either.

 

Every time I come back to watch the Vale, the stadium looks even more tired.

The facilities in the paddock and bycars are atrocious.

I never wanted to leave Vale Park but sadly until we do, I can't see us progressing as a club.

It's a dump.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Is he to blame for all other league one attendances being down?

 

Yep he's to blame for everything apparently, including but not limited to the Cold War, weapons of mass distruction, Trump being elected, the fact that nothing's as good as in your grandparents day, people's inability to understand roundabouts, obesity and stripes being uglier to wear than hoops ;)

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Life is too short have it your own way

 

Ronnie Corbett was always too short, he still made me smile ;)

[blackdog]

Although the circumstances were different at the time, we need a John McGrath, a big character, someone to light the fire, warm the place up (His words)Someone who can instil a bit of hope, a bit of pride, a bit of excitement.

[smithie]

You really are clutching at straws if you are suggesting any part of that Charlton game was exciting.

We scraped a draw in a game we should have been four down at half time Andy the football on offer was nothing short of garbage.

 

Exciting, no. But I'd take a point over no points and a good performance any day.

 

Some of our performances have been poor of late, no doubt. For now though I'm only looking at the Hartlepool game and I'd take a 1-0 win by whatever method it takes. If we can win the game and the FA Cup gods are on our side, we might just pull the monster home tie we're long overdue.

 

There's no doubt that still being in the Cup over Christmas keeps things bubbling, particularly if we have a big tie to look forward to.

[geosname]

Whatever is or isnt done to improve crowd numbers has to start with the knowledge and belief that its a long term project, not a quick fix.

[Spunk Trumpet]

Exciting, no. But I'd take a point over no points and a good performance any day.

 

Some of our performances have been poor of late, no doubt. For now though I'm only looking at the Hartlepool game and I'd take a 1-0 win by whatever method it takes. If we can win the game and the FA Cup gods are on our side, we might just pull the monster home tie we're long overdue.

 

There's no doubt that still being in the Cup over Christmas keeps things bubbling, particularly if we have a big tie to look forward to.

Smithie, I totally agree that a point and playing poor is better than playing great and losing. Results over performances any day. But that only applies if you are challenging for promotion. That Charlton game, amongst others, merely proves we are a mile off. It was grim.

As for the 2nd part of your reply, again I agree. I couldn't care less how we play on Sunday as long as we win. It's the biggest game of the season. It could make or break man aspects within the club. But what a sorry state of affairs when we are talking about scraping past a poor league 2 outfit. "The fa cup gods" being with us.

And that's what the thread is about. Dwindling crowds and atmosphere.

The product is pretty dire. The stadium is on its arse. Morale on the pitch and in the stands is sunk. Fans are losing interest and it's not just the floating fans. I know fans of 50 years who have had enough.

It's a reality that's happening and has to be addressed.

We should be going into the cup match with buzz and optimism, yet I dare say you won't find one supporter with such.

All that being said, a win, of any kind, with any performance, is an absolute must and MAYBE the catalyst to a huge season turnaround.

A defeat and it doesn't bear thinking about.

[24 Nov 1969]

The reasons why crowds are down can be debated until the cows come home but to get to the real reasons why fans are no longer going can only be answered by encouraging these people to come on here and tell us WHY they no longer go.

 

I posted a while back why I have stopped going after 20+ years a season ticket holder. If I was to give the top two reasons why I stopped I would have to say.. 1. I cannot associate myself with a Chairman who has behaved they he has and 2. We have the second most expensive season ticket in League One. I took early retirement in April and not yet eligible for a 'senior' ticket and to put it bluntly, I am not prepared to pay £345 as I have to be more selective where my reduced income is spent.

[PV1973]

The worrying thing is that its affecting our core fan base. People who used to go no matter what are voting with their feet and not bothering. But overall its probably a combination of many factors. The cost, the facilities, the quality of the football, the chairman, plus I don't think we can underestimate the impact of having a premier league side on our doorstep who are probably grabbing the next generation of fans too.

[pjg1876]

I know someone who has stopped going after being a regular at every match home or away. A fall out with someone at the club and now watches Sky Sports on a Saturday afternoon and with the amount of Premier and Championship football on TV, why pay and sit in the cold to watch lower league football. Not sure if some pubs in the area still show 'foreign channel' Premier League matches on a Saturday afternoon but that could be another reason.

[stupers]

I guess if you have a downer on norm it's easy to blame him. There are teams at the top of the league who have seen average attendance drop since last year. They must be playing half decent footy to be up there but are still losing fans. I think there is more to dwindling attendances than port Vale and Norman smurthwaite.

 

I never have had a downer on Smurf previously. And there are many reasons why our attendances are dropping. But quite a lot of them lead back to decisions made by Norm at one point or another during his tenure (Ticket pricing, Sentinel dispute, negative radio interviews, managerial appointments, tall tales over budgets, I could go on) that it's hard to not see him as a focal point for change at the club. Not that he needs to go, but more that he needs to let Garlick do his job as Chief Exec/Secretary and leave the football side of things to people who know what they're talking about. He's taken one step to solving things with a chief exec. The other, in my opinion is to bring in a Director of Football. Smurf currently fulfils that role, and that's why it's not working.

[soothsayer]

Every time I come back to watch the Vale, the stadium looks even more tired.

The facilities in the paddock and bycars are atrocious.

I never wanted to leave Vale Park but sadly until we do, I can't see us progressing as a club.

It's a dump.

To be honest I agree fully, the stadium is stuck in the 80's and people want more from the match day experience in this day and age. I used to dream about seeing close to 20,000 in the ground again but I think those days are gone for good.

I hate to admit it but we'd be far better off with a modern, cheaper-to-run, stadium that is correctly sized for our current needs. To me this is one with a capacity of 8,000 - 10,000. Scunthorpe are building their second new stadium in 30 years it's just a pity we can't commission one. Clubs always get a boost when they move to a new ground whilst I think with a little vision perhaps a new facility could be built with close season events (pop concerts) in mind.

[geosname]

There are many possible reasons why attendances are dropping and it needs a serious scrutiny... one reason is simply life, we may call it natural wastage/loss, people move away, people die... we cant change that and eventually, unchecked, the fan base will fail to generate enough income to support the club they love.

Its an obvious statement that if we dont replace them vale is lost in history... perhaps its so obvious the people who can do something about it cant see it.

I dont care what is happening at other clubs, I dont care what the trend is... my team is different, my team can buck [perhaps I should spell that with an F] the trend, they can get off their collective dead asses and do something about it... if I dont believe that... then whats the point?

 

I would urge the people who can make a difference, do something about it stop worrying so much about today, you wont change that by much... start now to think about next year, start worrying about long term... dont stop whatever efforts are being made about today... start thinking about where you want vale to be in 10 years, then start thinking about how to get there, formulate a quarterly plan of how to achieve.... the fans cant do it for you.

 

Talking of fans I would also suggest you start to appreciate the ones you have, stop taking them for granted, stop thinking fans will buy season tickets because thats what they do, stop thinking that no matter what obstacle you put in their way they will just turn up, stop expecting fans to go out of their way to give you money... look at the crowds... they arent/wont.

 

Vale seem to make an effort to make it difficult for people to give them money... everyone else tries to make it as easy as possible.

 

Rant over... just my opinion of course.

[PV1973]

To be honest I agree fully, the stadium is stuck in the 80's and people want more from the match day experience in this day and age. I used to dream about seeing close to 20,000 in the ground again but I think those days are gone for good.

I hate to admit it but we'd be far better off with a modern, cheaper-to-run, stadium that is correctly sized for our current needs. To me this is one with a capacity of 8,000 - 10,000. Scunthorpe are building their second new stadium in 30 years it's just a pity we can't commission one. Clubs always get a boost when they move to a new ground whilst I think with a little vision perhaps a new facility could be built with close season events (pop concerts) in mind.

This is something I've thought for a long time. As much I'd love us to stay and fill the ground, realistically it may be better to sell up and move to a purpose built new ground of say 10,000 capacity. Something more manageable with better/newer facilities. I don't know where we could go to or how it would be funded but at the moment I feel we're just putting lipstick on a pig with Vale Park, we're making do.