dwindling crowds/atmosphere

[Family Stand Terrier]

As ever, I partly agree and partly disagree!

 

There's plenty of evidence that the "new" grounds aren't what most people are looking for.

 

The word "soulless" is often used about these places for a reason. Frequently found on retail parks and motorway junctions, these stadia are utterly nondescript in my opinion.

 

Shrewsbury, Northampton and Colchester are 3 that have seen a loss of atmosphere while chasing the corporate dollar - and they've not seen sustained upturns in support either.

 

In my opinion we should play on what we have and who we are a lot more. For away fans of a drinking age, Vale is a cracking day out pub-wise. Vale is Burslem, and Burslem is Vale.

 

Without a doubt we need to attract new younger fans and a "whole-day" experience with playing football in the morning and then watching it in the afternoon is probably the way to go. It certainly has to be affordable for a family to attend, and to my mind we don't reach out enough to the East European communities who undoubtedly love their football.

 

All my opinion, of course!

 

I agree with all of that. I'm not proposing we build a new Meadow. I just think we should be looking to improve what we've got. Modernise VP to an extent that would improve the experience and atmosphere for Vale fans. The age old notion of us having the Hamil End would be a start. Finishing the Lorne Street would improve the whole look and feel of the stadium. Get a decent concourse behind the Bycars and give away tickets to local schools behind the goal. Nothing looks worse than seeing loads of yellow seats on the highlights. The paddock, don't get me started. I've already just spent a couple of million :-) (seriously some of that wouldn't cost too much). I just think the place needs a big lift with some real energy and enthusiasm behind it. That comes from good leadership. I'd love nothing more than that leadership to come from Smurf, but at the moment the place just seems tired and there's no real acknowledgement that improvements need to be made to entice fans back.

[For Us All]

You'll notice I've highlighted your use of the words "my" and "me". You then go on to say "each to their own". There in lies the problem. Everyone is expected to adopt exactly the same approach. Everyone is different. I was sarcastic before which probably isn't helpful, but my frustration is with the lack of empathy people show for others that, for whatever reason, aren't currently attending. The attitude towards them is hostile, as though they're obliged to attend and by not doing so they should be derided and insulted. Unfortunately, we're living in much different times. Like it or not, there are a lot of youngsters now that won't have family demanding they follow their routine of watching the Vale every other week. They're going to have a choice to make and lets face it, they'll choose Stoke over us at the moment. On the pitch there's not a lot Smurf can do above what he's already doing. Off the pitch is where he could really make a difference. At the moment I just don't think he's doing enough. That's my point. In these modern times we need to up our game to retain the fans we already have, attract back those that have stopped turning up (find out why!!) and then we need a massive push to attract new young fans at the time when they'd be looking at choosing a team to follow for life. That's where free tickets comes in for starters. If we can then improve the stadium to the standards that fit modern expectations (not just those that have accepted the same standards over a 20/30/40/50 year period) then we can't really say we haven't tried. At the moment, we're simply not competing off the pitch.

 

Not it wasn't helpful,hence my response.

What we can agree on is that new young fans are our future and we need a new policy of attracting them to Vale Park.

[beasty77]

How hard is it to give local schools in and around the area free tickets? But even that probably wouldn't put much on the gate anyway. But its a start. Im a courier around ST6 area and the amount of people who i use to see down the Vale, and they say don't go anymore is frightening.

[Family Stand Terrier]

Not it wasn't helpful,hence my response.

What we can agree on is that new young fans are our future and we need a new policy of attracting them to Vale Park.

 

I fall into the bracket of fans that decides quite often not to attend. I used to go home and away for years. I've loved the Vale since I first went to a match in 1985 aged 3 years old. If we lose, it ruins my whole week. If we win, the opposite. So I get a bit pissed off when I see fans like me referred to as "so called fans". Threads like this are a chance to post ideas, criticise constructively, and provide an insight for the powers that be to reflect on in an attempt to prevent the "dwindling crowds/atmosphere" from continuing. Lets face it, the clue is in the title. Posting replies that are at times antagonising, aren't helpful in a thread like this, in my opinion. A few posts left me frustrated, so I replied sarcastically, as I don't believe that doing nothing and hoping for the best is a sophisticated way of encouraging fans back, or attracting new fans to start attending.

[fairportnick]

Not it wasn't helpful,hence my response.

What we can agree on is that new young fans are our future and we need a new policy of attracting them to Vale Park.

 

Do you think that potential new fans will be encouraged to come by your childish comments? Good tactic, potential PR man.

[For Us All]

Do you think that potential new fans will be encouraged to come by your childish comments? Good tactic, potential PR man.

 

I know you won't on principle but I suspect you aren't one of the younger fans I was referring to?