Home Match Day Thread +++ 12/10/2019 L1 OUFC v Doncaster Rovers +++

[Shosho]

Parking really shouldn't be an issue/excuse. The ground has the best car parking facilities in the whole of the football league and its free! There is also places to park within a 10 minute walk to the ground that are also free. It might need a bit of planning etc but surely you would plan most journeys you would do.

The stadium "soulless excuse" is a valid one but if fans don't turn up or do anything about it then it will stay soulless.

Just what I’ve read on social media etc - I agree with you!

 

[Yellows1]

Anyone know if the 50-50 draw was made on Saturday and if so was it won, many thanks in advance

 

[sideshowrob]

Fifty/50 Draw For Doncaster

Details of the Fifty/50 half-time draw, sponsored by Polythene UK, appear below:

www.oufc.co.uk

 

[Yellows1]

Fifty/50 Draw For Doncaster

Details of the Fifty/50 half-time draw, sponsored by Polythene UK, appear below:

www.oufc.co.uk

Cheers mate

 

[yellowbow]

Don’t forget we’re still mid table really. If we’re top 3 and stable by Christmas I predict the crowds will be noticeably up

All tied in with a big announcement about the new stadium on Boxing Day.. ?

 

[LondonRoader]

Ref attendances, I think there is a deep rooted issue here, I know ST holders who don’t go to games for various excuses myself included, there just doesn’t seem to be the fan connection at the moment to make people want to go every week, is it because of the train set factor with all these rich benefactors hovering around looking for their angle to make money off the back of our club.
Now you hear the murmurs of players having to be sold in the January window if attendances don’t rise, how are you going to convince the fans the investors are in it for the long haul if they make the noises of cashing in come January. If we are around the playoffs come the new year and we still have the same squad or maybe an addition or two I think the run in will see an marked upturn in crowds.
Bigger crowds have generally been poor atmospheres, added pressure and expectations, it will bring more revenue in though.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

Although I tend to agree that the atmosphere in the breeze block has been mostly dire. There have been a few moments that have lit up the place. For me, there were a fair few in recent years that spring to mind.
The Swansea cup match, and Wycombe promotion games were just great and many of the displays in the east stand from the ultras preceded loud and raucous support that was truly unforgettable. If we can get somewhere near that feel good factor in any way, then I would be ecstatic, however unlikely that might be.

 

[holdsteady]

Crowds will go up when we get into the playoff positions, the bad start has skewed casuals view of this season.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Crowds will go up when we get into the playoff positions, the bad start has skewed casuals view of this season.

This bad start people keep going on about, the first month was played 8, won 2, drawn 3, lost 2. 1 of those draws was against Millwall which we won on Pens. Since then we have played 10 in all competitions, won 6, drawn 2, lost 2. That totals played 18, won 8, drawn 5, lost 4. I think this "bad start" is a myth and an easy excuse for fans to use for not attending.

In those 18 games we have scored 38 and conceded 22.

 

[Fourthstand]

Went on holiday this week and couldn’t even give away my season ticket at work for the Donny game. West Ham game... people were queuing at my desk. Says it all really. Got to get the message out there. We are playing SO well and it’s a joy to watch and admire atm.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

The quality of the football is superb at the moment. Highest scorers in the country to boot. The marketing team should be working double shifts to get the message out; because there is no reason why we can’t have a Reading sized spectating fanbase in the championship.

Which means a fourth stand of course....

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

This bad start people keep going on about, the first month was played 8, won 2, drawn 3, lost 2. 1 of those draws was against Millwall which we won on Pens. Since then we have played 10 in all competitions, won 6, drawn 2, lost 2. That totals played 18, won 8, drawn 5, lost 4. I think this "bad start" is a myth and an easy excuse for fans to use for not attending.

In those 18 games we have scored 38 and conceded 22.

Come on, we had a run of 5 consecutive games in the league from 17th August to 7th September where we lost 4 and drew 1 (so 1 point out of 15) where we conceded 14 and scored only 8. That was a bad period by any standards and is why we’re still only mid table. Can’t really blame fans who went to all 5 of those games, for example, for being a bit reticent to come back.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Come on, we had a run of 5 consecutive games in the league from 17th August to 7th September where we lost 4 and drew 1 (so 1 point out of 15) where we conceded 14 and scored only 8. That was a bad period by any standards and is why we’re still only mid table. Can’t really blame fans who went to all 5 of those games, for example, for being a bit reticent to come back.

1 of those defeats were at home, in the same time we had got through to the 3rd round of the league cup. The 1 home defeat was a tuesday night game vs Burton. Im sorry, but I still don't buy this bad start that some fans say we had.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Until there is a concerted effort to rally the local population and ask them to come and be part of what’s going on, it won’t improve markedly. This notion that it’ll magically improve when we’re suddenly three places above where we already are in the league is fanciful. We aren’t just competing for the so called leisure pound, we are competing with a very loud and busy world, full of flashing lights, deafening clatter and people shouting and waving their arms in the air. It’s a really difficult world to cut through in - it’s getting harder by the month let alone the year. You have to really compete for time and attention, and only then can you compete for custom. I will speak with some authority on that as I spend my entire life guiding a company through an increasingly crowded, digitally dominated world. My company has a magazine that sits on newsstands not just across the UK but all over the world - we are available in newsagents and supermarkets from Alaska to Adelaide - and have a combined social media reach of around two million people, as well as yearly online traffic in the tens of millions. Yet even we can’t merely depend on being a ‘known and established’ brand. You’re fighting for attention in a world where even a newspaper that is printed twice a day can’t keep up with the pace of life anymore. It’s relentless and exhausting, and to shrug and put it all down to league positions is lazy and outdated. If we’d beaten Accrington like we arguably should’ve a week ago, we would be in fourth place just two points off second. We smashed a Premier League side 4-0 a few weeks ago, beat another side 6-0 the same week and are one of the top goal scorers in the entire country. If on pitch matters were going to fix this alone, it would’ve been markedly on the up by now. Just scoring goals and winning games is not going to change 6,500 crowds to 8,000+ crowds.

There needs to be a dedicated campaign across all local media - something that carries across a season rather than being geared towards one individual match - getting the message out that this is a team worth supporting. It’s been said before, but it needs a Believe 2.0 that can keep being pushed week after week for the next six months. It needs a buzzword or a motto - you can call it cheesy but it works. Barely anything stands out nowadays without this, from media output in the form of music, movies and games, to politics and world affairs. We are in the age of propaganda and showmanship, everything is a circus now. Just last month I was speaking with somebody involved in the live music industry who is now starting to work on stage shows that incorporate smell. Bright lights and fancy props aren’t enough on their own anymore, and everybody is constantly searching for the next thing that is going to set them apart from everybody else. The world is increasingly over-stimulated and that means that even when it comes to League One football, you’re going to have to do something once in a while to appeal to more than just the core. All this needs is a bit of visibility, some basic branding / marketing and a voice. But it will not dramatically improve purely based on results, I absolutely assure you of that.

This team deserves more people to turn up at the moment, and I think with an extra thousand or two cheering them on could have a really good go at doing something, but the club is going to have to do something to take it, not just sit and put it all down to results or people being skint.

 

[BristolOx]

Until there is a concerted effort to rally the local population and ask them to come and be part of what’s going on, it won’t improve markedly. This notion that it’ll magically improve when we’re suddenly three places above where we already are in the league is fanciful. We aren’t just competing for the so called leisure pound, we are competing with a very loud and busy world, full of flashing lights, deafening clatter and people shouting and waving their arms in the air. It’s a really difficult world to cut through in - it’s getting harder by the month let alone the year. You have to really compete for time and attention, and only then can you compete for custom. I will speak with some authority on that as I spend my entire life guiding a company through an increasingly crowded, digitally dominated world. My company has a magazine that sits on newsstands not just across the UK but all over the world - we are available in newsagents and supermarkets from Alaska to Adelaide - and have a combined social media reach of around two million people, as well as yearly online traffic in the tens of millions. Yet even we can’t merely depend on being a ‘known and established’ brand. You’re fighting for attention in a world where even a newspaper that is printed twice a day can’t keep up with the pace of life anymore. It’s relentless and exhausting, and to shrug and put it all down to league positions is lazy and outdated. If we’d beaten Accrington like we arguably should’ve a week ago, we would be in fourth place just two points off second. We smashed a Premier League side 4-0 a few weeks ago, beat another side 6-0 the same week and are one of the top goal scorers in the entire country. If on pitch matters were going to fix this alone, it would’ve been markedly on the up by now. Just scoring goals and winning games is not going to change 6,500 crowds to 8,000+ crowds.

There needs to be a dedicated campaign across all local media - something that carries across a season rather than being geared towards one individual match - getting the message out that this is a team worth supporting. It’s been said before, but it needs a Believe 2.0 that can keep being pushed week after week for the next six months. It needs a buzzword or a motto - you can call it cheesy but it works. Barely anything stands out nowadays without this, from media output in the form of music, movies and games, to politics and world affairs. We are in the age of propaganda and showmanship, everything is a circus now. Just last month I was speaking with somebody involved in the live music industry who is now starting to work on stage shows that incorporate smell. Bright lights and fancy props aren’t enough on their own anymore, and everybody is constantly searching for the next thing that is going to set them apart from everybody else. The world is increasingly over-stimulated and that means that even when it comes to League One football, you’re going to have to do something once in a while to appeal to more than just the core. All this needs is a bit of visibility, some basic branding / marketing and a voice. But it will not dramatically improve purely based on results, I absolutely assure you of that.

This team deserves more people to turn up at the moment, and I think with an extra thousand or two cheering them on could have a really good go at doing something, but the club is going to have to do something to take it, not just sit and put it all down to results or people being skint.

Depending on your definition of dramatic improvement - I do think we could get another 1000 if we were in the top 3.

I agree with the basis of what you say but I know people who will turn up on the based on our league position.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Ref attendances, I think there is a deep rooted issue here, I know ST holders who don’t go to games for various excuses myself included, there just doesn’t seem to be the fan connection at the moment to make people want to go every week, is it because of the train set factor with all these rich benefactors hovering around looking for their angle to make money off the back of our club.
Now you hear the murmurs of players having to be sold in the January window if attendances don’t rise, how are you going to convince the fans the investors are in it for the long haul if they make the noises of cashing in come January. If we are around the playoffs come the new year and we still have the same squad or maybe an addition or two I think the run in will see an marked upturn in crowds.
Bigger crowds have generally been poor atmospheres, added pressure and expectations, it will bring more revenue in though.

You’ve got a season ticket? Get down there then! Even when we don’t win it’s still an engrossing afternoon as long as you have a mate or two to chat to.

 

[warksox]

Our recent "free-scoring" performances got me thinking of the team Jim Smith built in this league in the 80's, and what that did to attendances (albeit when we played at a 'proper' ground). So starting the season before Jim arrived:
80-81 (Bill Asprey / Ian Greaves) : Finished 14th in Div 3 : Average home league attendance 4132
81-82 (Ian Greaves / Jim Smith): 5th ; 5850
82-83 (Jim Smith); 5th ; 5476
83-84 (Jim Smith); 1st ; 7870 (Game 1, Lincoln (h) 4239; Game 46, Rotherham (h) 9852)
So times have changed and marketing is certainly more important today than it was then. But for those people on here saying that league position matters and success will increase attendances are absolutely right - the evidence is there.

 

[ThatSlopesATwelfthMan]

Until there is a concerted effort to rally the local population and ask them to come and be part of what’s going on, it won’t improve markedly. This notion that it’ll magically improve when we’re suddenly three places above where we already are in the league is fanciful. We aren’t just competing for the so called leisure pound, we are competing with a very loud and busy world, full of flashing lights, deafening clatter and people shouting and waving their arms in the air. It’s a really difficult world to cut through in - it’s getting harder by the month let alone the year. You have to really compete for time and attention, and only then can you compete for custom. I will speak with some authority on that as I spend my entire life guiding a company through an increasingly crowded, digitally dominated world. My company has a magazine that sits on newsstands not just across the UK but all over the world - we are available in newsagents and supermarkets from Alaska to Adelaide - and have a combined social media reach of around two million people, as well as yearly online traffic in the tens of millions. Yet even we can’t merely depend on being a ‘known and established’ brand. You’re fighting for attention in a world where even a newspaper that is printed twice a day can’t keep up with the pace of life anymore. It’s relentless and exhausting, and to shrug and put it all down to league positions is lazy and outdated. If we’d beaten Accrington like we arguably should’ve a week ago, we would be in fourth place just two points off second. We smashed a Premier League side 4-0 a few weeks ago, beat another side 6-0 the same week and are one of the top goal scorers in the entire country. If on pitch matters were going to fix this alone, it would’ve been markedly on the up by now. Just scoring goals and winning games is not going to change 6,500 crowds to 8,000+ crowds.

There needs to be a dedicated campaign across all local media - something that carries across a season rather than being geared towards one individual match - getting the message out that this is a team worth supporting. It’s been said before, but it needs a Believe 2.0 that can keep being pushed week after week for the next six months. It needs a buzzword or a motto - you can call it cheesy but it works. Barely anything stands out nowadays without this, from media output in the form of music, movies and games, to politics and world affairs. We are in the age of propaganda and showmanship, everything is a circus now. Just last month I was speaking with somebody involved in the live music industry who is now starting to work on stage shows that incorporate smell. Bright lights and fancy props aren’t enough on their own anymore, and everybody is constantly searching for the next thing that is going to set them apart from everybody else. The world is increasingly over-stimulated and that means that even when it comes to League One football, you’re going to have to do something once in a while to appeal to more than just the core. All this needs is a bit of visibility, some basic branding / marketing and a voice. But it will not dramatically improve purely based on results, I absolutely assure you of that.

This team deserves more people to turn up at the moment, and I think with an extra thousand or two cheering them on could have a really good go at doing something, but the club is going to have to do something to take it, not just sit and put it all down to results or people being skint.

Good post and lots of truth in it. Realistically there's only so much a loss-making, smallish business like oufc can do on the marketing side but agree it's important. Also critically important is consistency and quality of experience. There was a student fellow on here the other day, new to town, asking us about what we get up to on match days and we couldn't even recommend a place to get a decent pint. We could list in great detail all the things to avoid. I regularly introduce neighbors and colleagues to the club and often accompany them for first games but it's incredibly rare to see that casual attendence become anything like support for all the reasons we've discussed here before. And a bad experience puts people off for years. No marketing in the world can really solve that. Better football and some higher stakes games is all we have for now.

 

[holdsteady]

This bad start people keep going on about, the first month was played 8, won 2, drawn 3, lost 2. 1 of those draws was against Millwall which we won on Pens. Since then we have played 10 in all competitions, won 6, drawn 2, lost 2. That totals played 18, won 8, drawn 5, lost 4. I think this "bad start" is a myth and an easy excuse for fans to use for not attending.

In those 18 games we have scored 38 and conceded 22.

After the first two games we went on a bad run, took one point in 5 games, that’s put us further down the table than our current results and ability deserve. If you don’t attend games you wouldn’t know that, so we haven’t picked up the people who look at the table and fancy watching a promotion chasing team.

 

[LondonRoader]

You’ve got a season ticket? Get down there then! Even when we don’t win it’s still an engrossing afternoon as long as you have a mate or two to chat to.

Myself and a few of my other friends who don't attend all the time sit together in the same group all have ST, so the financial situation is not about us.
There is an amount of apathy amongst our group and rarely do we all attend at the same match, some of are group have been following our team for 45+ years up and down the country, good and bad times, we can still enjoy a win and moan about a bad result even not being at the ground but doing what we preferred to do on the day.
If I wanted to watch good football I would switch on the TV to watch some (which I don't), the ground and club need to get the soul back in the club, motivate the fans who attend now and target new fans to increase attendances, DE achieved this for a while and it is now down to the owners to get the off pitch stuff sorted better and get the belief back in the existing fans.