dwindling crowds/atmosphere

[Conrad]

I was in Huddersfield today (lifestyles of the rich and famous and all that) and so many of the shops had A4 or A3 posters in the window advertising the next match. A bit of decent design and paying a small amount to some local promoters would go a long way. It would need to be done long term but something along the lines of what non-league Lewes do would capture the imagination in a way that Stoke don't. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

 

I was thinking something like this, they could put A4 size posters in the pubs around Burslem, I'm certain the landlords would be happy to do this as the pubs in Burslem do well out of the vale on match days. This would only cost the price of half a dozen sheets of paper.

[mr.hobblesworth]

Not just Burslem, you're preaching to the mostly converted there. I was thinking of Hanley, Newcastle, schools, colleges, universities, record shops, bars...

[Conrad]

Not just Burslem, you're preaching to the mostly converted there. I was thinking of Hanley, Newcastle, schools, colleges, universities, record shops, bars...

The last cup game v Stevenage there were people in the pub before the game who didn't know it was only £12 addmission

[geosname]

Remind me how many football clubs guarantee great performances?

 

Can you tel me why Pompey pack in 16,000 every home game? Surely after their fall from grace the fans should be staying away?

 

Oh I remember now. It's calling supporting your club through thick and thin.

 

Remind me how many people guarantee to turn up?

I would suggest that 16,000 turn up because they want to, they choose to, its how they decide to spend their Saturdays. Because some of them may enjoy it?

How many season tickets have vale sold for this season? How many turn up? Is it fair to say that whatever the number is that that is vales supporter base?

Whats actually been done to increase that number over the last 10 years?

The hard core turn up, I get that, but if the number of hardcore fans isnt enough?

[Spunk Trumpet]

Remind me how many football clubs guarantee great performances?

 

Can you tel me why Pompey pack in 16,000 every home game? Surely after their fall from grace the fans should be staying away?

 

Oh I remember now. It's calling supporting your club through thick and thin.

 

Portsmouths average attendance in the modern era (20 years) hasn't dipped below 5 figures.

They have always had a strong hardcore support and the premier league captured more. What they have done though is keep them. Fair play.

Our hardcore support as always been around 3000. So our supporters are indeed supporting the club through thick and thin. The club has done nowhere near enough after the promotion season from league 2 to entice new supporters and to keep the gates at around 5000.

That stems from the man at the top who makes the crucial on and off field decisions.

[Spunk Trumpet]

When I last came over (Charlton at home) and I've said this before, but the stadium is so run down, it's a dump.

It's like a pub that nobody wants to go into that's on its last legs.

I'm a paddock goer. The experience for 22 quid is quite awful. I'm no prude. I can deal with anything but that night it was just embarrassing and I'm a long serving supporter so I can't understand us not attracting any new fans.

Entered the ground by pushing a turnstile gate that is of a different era. I know. It's petty but this is 2016 and we are way behind.

It's cold. Raining. I'll go the toilet before I go in. You walk in people's ****. There is sludge marks all over the floor. It's cold and damp. You are basically ******* up against a wall.

Ok. Let's get a burger before the game kicks off.

No burgers.

No hot dogs.

This is a football "stadium" remember.

Fine, I'll take a pie and a beer. Let's see, where can we drink it...... errrrrrr, yeah, let's stand here by the bin so we can rest our beers on it. But let's hurry and drink it as it's raining and we are getting soaked.

Take the pie in the stand and find a seat. Atmosphere shocking. 3200 in a 19000 stadium. Everything feels colder and wetter than it is.

First half performance is woeful. Lucky not to be 4 down.

Have a **** at half time. Toilets are cold and damp and full of moaners. And rightly so. We were shocking.

Drink another beer in the rain and head back to the seats.

Change places second half. Move to nearer the bycars to cheer the lads on. Sadly, empty cold wet seats everywhere.

Somehow scrape a point and give the boys an applause as they walk off the pitch.

Freezing cold and damp we walk back to the car, via the shitty toilets of course which is now just a mass of sludge on the floor from everyone going in there.

Get back in the car. Turn on RS. Listen to the interviews and warm up as we head back to our local in Bradwell.

Once there I'm so thankful I'm back in comfortable warmth and constantly question, with my dad, (I've been going since 1986. Him since the 60s) why the **** do we do it.

 

Vale Park, and I'm sad to say, is run down and has the facilities of teams 5 or 6 leagues lower than us.

Not knocking the corporate side but the match day experience for a supporter is grim.

 

For me it's a novelty, living away. Whenever I'm over I will go the game. But it has been proven that the paying customers this season are simply not turning up. And I don't blame them.

 

You cannot run a business on blind faith.

It's easy to blame the fans. What fans? The fans are doing their bit. The hardcore 3000 are showing up!

The club is at one of its lowest ebs.

For me I cannot stress enough how important Saturday is.

To win, anyway possible, is a must. Then hopefully a big club in the third round and a base to build our club back again.

We are sinking on and off the pitch faster than ever before with attendances and quality of football. Not a good combination.

Let's hope we do the business on Sunday and that Norman gets his head out of his arrogant delusional arse and starts to promote this football club and listen to the fans before it's too late.

[geosname]

I think it boils down to this...

 

If not going to watch vale makes you feel better than going to watch them... sooner or later you will stop...

 

I think Port Vale has lost sight of one simple fact...

 

The most important person at the club isnt smurf or bruno or a player its the supporter. Whether that supporter is a season ticket holder, pay on the day, casual or any other type.

I use supporter instead of supporters because each one is an individual and as individuals they have their own reasons why they go or not. Its not until they get into the ground on match days do they become a collective with one focus.... take smurf away he can be replaced, take the manager away he can be replaced, take a player away he can be replaced.... take a supporter away and we are doing nothing to replace him/her

[carpetman123]

Well....this is a great moaning thread to click on to!!! I remember pre 87 before the famous cup knockout of Spurs the seasons before that we had similar crowds but one thing we didn't have was social media!

 

I always with my mates used to go up at 2-55 not even queue up and get in the ground just as the teams came out not to line up but both teams ran out to their own halves never meeting until one was crunched into the air by a dodgy tackle that was waived on, tea bar in the middle of the bycars where you took life in your hands walking back balancing three teas hoping we wouldn't score as you pushed through the group of chanting fans with scarves tied round their wrists!

 

That was amongst roughly 3000 fans!

 

Then we beat Spurs had two games against Watford Rudgie then built a Promotion team that took us through the nineties and other giant killing against Derby,Everton the cup matches against Arsenal and suddenly our fan base grew and grew so from queuing up to get in a 2-55 I had to queue up to get in at 2-30 seeing people who I'd never seen before!!!

 

So those of you that get despondent about the gates we are getting the key in all this is building a team that wins matches, gets cup runs and beats the big teams.....that's what builds gates a successful team!!

 

So this weekend who knows it may be the turning point it may not but that's how it works!!!

[geosname]

Pre 1950s the crowd was mainly men who had a choice between going shopping with the wife or going football or perhaps taking their wives to hanley to shop and going the match while they shopped... times change

There used to be cash turnstiles... times change

In the 70s I watched some dire stuff and a crowd of below 2,000... times change

There was a time when vale had a decent home crowd and played exciting football... times change

I can remember a time when the only views about vale came from the local news or small groups of supporters in pubs etc. Then the internet came and... times changed

There was a time when the club could afford to sit back and take the supporters for granted because the home gate was better... times change

I cant remember a time, from my first match in the 50s to well into the time of my ST days 70s-80s, when, no matter how poor we were on the field, the team didnt try to give their best... times seem to have changed

 

I can accept the changes quite easily, I can adapt and adjust accordingly to what life presents me. As do most people, they have to to survive when times change.

 

Vale Park opened in 1950 and Port Vale FC has been stuck there ever since...

[Mario]

Well....this is a great moaning thread to click on to!!! I remember pre 87 before the famous cup knockout of Spurs the seasons before that we had similar crowds but one thing we didn't have was social media!

 

I always with my mates used to go up at 2-55 not even queue up and get in the ground just as the teams came out not to line up but both teams ran out to their own halves never meeting until one was crunched into the air by a dodgy tackle that was waived on, tea bar in the middle of the bycars where you took life in your hands walking back balancing three teas hoping we wouldn't score as you pushed through the group of chanting fans with scarves tied round their wrists!

 

That was amongst roughly 3000 fans!

 

Then we beat Spurs had two games against Watford Rudgie then built a Promotion team that took us through the nineties and other giant killing against Derby,Everton the cup matches against Arsenal and suddenly our fan base grew and grew so from queuing up to get in a 2-55 I had to queue up to get in at 2-30 seeing people who I'd never seen before!!!

 

So those of you that get despondent about the gates we are getting the key in all this is building a team that wins matches, gets cup runs and beats the big teams.....that's what builds gates a successful team!!

 

So this weekend who knows it may be the turning point it may not but that's how it works!!!

 

So basically what your saying is, nothing has altered much since the sixties, except we have seats, Santa #232 sums up the match day experience brilliantly except he fails to mention if you walk out at the Bycars end you can be walking through running water and mud, a large proportion of our dwindling gates sit in poor conditions , we don't have the benefit of a warm escape before the game or at half time, but we all share the benefit of some of the most mind numbing football on record.

[stupers]

So those of you that get despondent about the gates we are getting the key in all this is building a team that wins matches, gets cup runs and beats the big teams.....that's what builds gates a successful team!!

 

In the main I agree that the team is the most important part. But when the chips are down, it's the other things (matchday experience, vibe from the club, atmosphere) that make people turn up. There isn't a whole lot of positive things to say about any of those things are there?

[carpetman123]

In the main I agree that the team is the most important part. But when the chips are down, it's the other things (matchday experience, vibe from the club, atmosphere) that make people turn up. There isn't a whole lot of positive things to say about any of those things are there?

 

There wasn't pre 1987 in fact the stadium was in a far worse position then than it is now!! all i,m saying is its all down to the luck of the draw and a few good results on the pitch that can turn things around you can.t build a fanbase by just talking about it on a website or reducing ticket prices it has to come from the pitch and the performances on it!!

 

Every team wants to win and build successful teams if it was that easy you would be very rich

 

All these things have to click into place, the right Owner,the right Manager, the right players and a lucky draw for it all fall into place these things have worked for a few clubs recently the likes of Burnley,Bournemouth,Brighton,Blackpool,Stoke to some extent why not Port Vale!!!

[mr.hobblesworth]

In the main I agree that the team is the most important part. But when the chips are down, it's the other things (matchday experience, vibe from the club, atmosphere) that make people turn up. There isn't a whole lot of positive things to say about any of those things are there?

 

Spot on. On the occasions that I've watched entertaining wins for the Vale, the state of the amenities, the lack of decent refreshments or the cold weather haven't even crossed my mind. I took friends to the home win against Rochdale last season and they sat in the same seats in the same ground with the same facilities as the person who made post #232. Not one of them gave a toss about the lack of pies or the scummy toilets as the football was a joy to watch. It's when the football is so grim (and the winter doesn't exactly help) that the environmental things start to drag.

 

I feel that the club could do with a decent rebrand but I'm not one of the locals that the club needs to attract. I don't want a meat pie and a bottle of Carlsberg and my idea of a great looking identity for the club might not chime with the general population of S-o-T.

[Santa]

Football has moved on since the 80s & 90s but in many ways Vale haven't. In the stand everything seems so dark, drab, grim at the moment... maybe the football exacerbates that feeling. Obviously the hard core are used to the facilities but how you attract families into that sort of environment I don't know. Spreading fans around a three quarters empty stadium does nothing for creating an atmosphere either.

 

Without trying to offend anyone, our fan base is growing old and dying off. There isn't a steady supply of younger fans replacing them. At some point somebody will have to come up with something radical to get the club going again and start thinking the unthinkable.

[mr.hobblesworth]

I think I read that 25% of Stoke City season ticket holders are under 21. I don't want to think what our figures are like.