Dot Counting Bolton 10k - 28 November

[RgYellows]

8899 I think

Looked about that many on iFollow

 

[Matt W]

was it 8800 ish?

travelling from basically green rd roundabout and parking on BBLeys took me an hour!

5 mins to the slip rd to Tesco roundabout by BMW, 50 mins from the start of the slip road to TheSwan, the 5mind to BBleys inc parking up

fully understand why on a baltic night at the breeze block some from further afield opted for ifollow & avoided the utterly s**t, snail pace, traffic in East Oxford

We arrived early this eve, as travel in from Wallingford. It took ages for the ground to fill up in the minutes before kick off, and I did wonder about traffic/parking/buses etc. Always the same for midweek games

 

[RyanioBirdio]

was it 8800 ish?

travelling from basically green rd roundabout and parking on BBLeys took me an hour!

5 mins to the slip rd to Tesco roundabout by BMW, 50 mins from the start of the slip road to TheSwan, the 5mind to BBleys inc parking up

fully understand why on a baltic night at the breeze block some from further afield opted for ifollow & avoided the utterly s**t, snail pace, traffic in East Oxford

Wait until there are thousands of people trying to get on one of the two trains remaining on the schedule from Oxford Parkway, each of which only has a maximum capacity of 600-700. That’s when Tuesday nights will become really fun

 

[90syeIlow]

Did anyone else notice the car crash on blackbird leys road after the game?

 

[LowerSouth]

Did anyone else notice the car crash on blackbird leys road after the game?

Only saw the aftermath .
The road was completely blocked.
Looked like at least one vehicle had overturned.
Hope no one was seriously hurt

 

[LowerSouth]

Wait until there are thousands of people trying to get on one of the two trains remaining on the schedule from Oxford Parkway, each of which only has a maximum capacity of 600-700. That’s when Tuesday nights will become really fun

There was a serious accident on the main road, just before Sandy Lane

 

[90syeIlow]

Only saw the aftermath .
The road was completely blocked.
Looked like at least one vehicle had overturned.
Hope no one was seriously hurt

No serious injuries from what I saw.

The driver was speeding down the road before colliding into traffic

 

[Scrongo]

You couldn't believe it was a top of the table clash, absolutely awful no excuses.10 minuets before the game and it was like a morgue..FACT!!!!

 

[Chrisox]

All this talk about how bad the traffic is coming from North Oxfordshire I left Kidlington at 6.45pm and was parked by 7.15pm in the ground before 7 25pm maybe by going early you get the traffic was my first night game for sometime due to working nights.

 

[Essexyellows]

Looked around the 9k mark on iFollow, compared with a 1.5 hour each way slog in traffic, sitting in the lounge in the warm was a wise choice.
As a ST holder watching on iFollow I hope I wasn`t counted twice.

Are the iFollow "attendances" available for public consumption @Colin B ?

 

[East Stand Fan]

Good crowd in the end and a fantastic turnout from Bolton. At one point it did look like we'd only have about 7,500 but clearly traffic and the cold were stopping people from coming up to their seats early.

 

[SteMerritt]

Wait until there are thousands of people trying to get on one of the two trains remaining on the schedule from Oxford Parkway, each of which only has a maximum capacity of 600-700. That’s when Tuesday nights will become really fun

Not a problem, the busses run until 1am don't they? That should help us get back to Bicester after our Champions League knockout ties.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Not a problem, the busses run until 1am don't they? That should help us get back to Bicester after our Champions League knockout ties.

We’ll have to get a taxi.

“Drop us off by the lake please mate.”
“The pond?”
“It’s not a pond!”

 

[Colin B]

Looked around the 9k mark on iFollow, compared with a 1.5 hour each way slog in traffic, sitting in the lounge in the warm was a wise choice.
As a ST holder watching on iFollow I hope I wasn`t counted twice.

Are the iFollow "attendances" available for public consumption @Colin B ?

Unfortunately not, as I would love to see them.

Each club is given the viewing numbers for its games, but most don't publish this information, including OUFC. I know Plymouth and Bradford City used to publish the info, but I'm not sure if they do it anymore? Maybe the EFL in their wisdom have put some sort of ban on it being made public?

 

[SteMerritt]

Unfortunately not, as I would love to see them.

Each club is given the viewing numbers for its games, but most don't publish this information, including OUFC. I know Plymouth and Bradford City used to publish the info, but I'm not sure if they do it anymore? Maybe the EFL in their wisdom have put some sort of ban on it being made public?

Is there anything in the accounts that could be linked to IFollow money, or don't we itemise down to that level?

 

[Colin B]

Last post before leaving for the game shortly.

Another 200 sales so far today, taking us up to about 7,400. I'd say with boxes, walk ups and sales this afternoon/evening my 8,000 plus what Bolton bring won't be far out.

So that's 9,200 total. In my opinion that's not bad for a cold midweek game in November. It'll be interesting to compare with other League One and Two attendances tonight.

A total of 7,742 home fans in a crowd of 8,899 was a bit less than my 3pm forecast.

It means we had virtually no walk ups or sales after 3pm, which I find hard to believe, or once again we didn't sell all of the boxes? From my seat in the SSU I can't see the boxes, so could someone who could see them comment on whether there were empty boxes? Even if they were half empty, the walk ups would have been less than half that of a "normal" Saturday game.

For some context I looked at the other comparable games last night, and our attendance compares favourably. Nearly 2,000 higher than Bristol Rovers, 1,000 higher than Port Vale (where there was a very large Derby County contingent), nearly 1,000 higher than Wigan, 500 higher than Reading, and way higher than all the rest other than Blackpool (by about 100), and 1,700 fewer than Charlton. Higher than all crowds in League Two (by several thousand in some cases) including Stockport and Notts County who have both been pulling in big crowds.

I'm certainly not trying to be a cheerleader for the club, but those who decry our attendances really do need to look at the whole picture and see the positives as they're really pretty good compared to our peers.

Edit: Barnsley also had a bigger attendance than us, but it was missing from the website I use when I posted earlier. That said, I think the point still stands that we're not the only ones whose midweek attendances take a hit.

 

[Colin B]

Is there anything in the accounts that could be linked to IFollow money, or don't we itemise down to that level?

Sadly not. I used to get the management accounts where you could pick some of this type of detail out, but the club didn't issue them to shareholders this year. Some clubs do put a bit of detail in their accounts that allows for the revenue to be extracted, but it's then a bit of a back of a fag packet calculation as to how many viewers it relates to.

I think the EFL prefer the smoke and mirrors.

 

[Foley]

A total of 7,742 home fans in a crowd of 8,899 was a bit less than my 3pm forecast.

It means we had virtually no walk ups or sales after 3pm, which I find hard to believe, or once again we didn't sell all of the boxes? From my seat in the SSU I can't see the boxes, so could someone who could see them comment on whether there were empty boxes? Even if they were half empty, the walk ups would have been less than half that of a "normal" Saturday game.

For some context I looked at the other comparable games last night, and our attendance compares favourably. Nearly 2,000 higher than Bristol Rovers, 1,000 higher than Port Vale (where there was a very large Derby County contingent), nearly 1,000 higher than Wigan, 500 higher than Reading, and way higher than all the rest other than Blackpool (by about 100), and 1,700 fewer than Charlton. Higher than all crowds in League Two (by several thousand in some cases) including Stockport and Notts County who have both been pulling in big crowds.

I'm certainly not trying to be a cheerleader for the club, but those who decry our attendances really do need to look at the whole picture and see the positives as they're really pretty good compared to our peers.

I walked past the ticket office at around 7.30 and there were 10 or so queueing at every window- more than normal games. So it's a little surprising that the walk ups were lower than normal.

Fair point on attendances. I was ( clearly) wrongly assuming that this first v third was a massive game with DBs first game and that would draw out many more supporters. Maybe ifollow bring available makes a big affect on attendances?

It was a very good turnout by Bolton in the end.

 

[Sarge]

Is there anything in the accounts that could be linked to IFollow money, or don't we itemise down to that level?

If the club dont provide that information in shareholders accounts( which they didn't at the most recently issued set.... there's a question for the finance director chap at a fans forum perhaps, IF the club don't continue down the watering down of FF's route of course?), it seems a bit strange that a revenue stream isn't being separately identified.

Personally I think EFL Ifollow should provide 'attendance figures' for every game where Ifollow sell match passes. And they should be given alongside the actual matchday attendance . It would help a bit with acertaining if there had been any FFP breaches, after all ifollow match passes are a matchday income (albeit a small stream of income)

 

[Sarge]

Sadly not. I used to get the management accounts where you could pick some of this type of detail out, but the club didn't issue them to shareholders this year. Some clubs do put a bit of detail in their accounts that allows for the revenue to be extracted, but it's then a bit of a back of a fag packet calculation as to how many viewers it relates to.

I think the EFL prefer the smoke and mirrors.

agreed - who knows whether its one, two or a roomful watching on a single ifollow match pass, though transparency from EFL regarding ifollow match passes sold would be a move in the right direction