Matches Lack of supporters

[NC2U]

It was perfectly fine when the whole of the South stand lower was the family section as you could choose anywhere along the full length of the pitch you wish to sit. Now you are forced to sit opposite the penalty area where unless your up high the fence end becomes hard to see.

A family of 5 , 2 adults and 3 kids (2 under the age of 6 and 1 aged 9) would pay £46 in the family section of the North stand, in the south stand Lower it would be £70.

We should be encouraging family's to come and choose a decent seat at a reasonable price rather then making them sit in the corner like the away fans!

There is nothing wrong with those seats, I used to have a season ticket in one of those blocks until it got taken over as a family area, so I had to move.
As for the whole of the south stand being discounted, tbh I wasn’t aware that it was I thought it was only the blocks by the fence end, which I agree is a terrible part of the ground next to the fence.

 

[Reynolds97]

Take the usual 7k over the added few thousand for big cup games all day long. I like being able to get a ticket for every game and seeing the same old faces every Saturday, of course i want the club to progress but i do worry about being priced out & struggle for tickets if we progress up the leagues.

 

[Ox4Eva]

With this attitude you're either really young or don't have anything else going on in your life.

If it's the former, you'll soon realise that there are many things that can stop adult fans from attending every home game, and if it's the latter I'm sorry that you don't have anything in your life that's occasionally more important than football.

I have been attending U's games since 1981, so no spring chicken. I live in London and have lived all over the country in the past and made every game I can.

I also have a life away from football, again your post highlights the Oxfordshire approach to football, the lack of deep seated passion for your team.

Go to a football hotbed and people live a breath their team and it's history.

People can choose not to attend, it's not always possible, but they don't make up lame excuses..

 

[holdsteady]

Take the usual 7k over the added few thousand for big cup games all day long. I like being able to get a ticket for every game and seeing the same old faces every Saturday, of course i want the club to progress but i do worry about being priced out & struggle for tickets if we progress up the leagues.

I wouldn’t worry about that to much, that’s very a problem that might occur in the future.

I don’t think our crowds are that bad, we are only in league one, you would be surprised by how many people would struggle to tell you what level that is (if only football had kept to divisions one to four), we are not attracting anyone who does not have a decent interest in football and without a link to Oxfordshire (or bought along by said person) down at this level of football, the chance of new converts almost exclusively comes from those bought along by existing fans or getting lapsed supporters back.

Being in the championship at least let’s you say you are one promotion from the holy land, get into the prem and it’s a completely different scenario.

 

[Scotchegg]

that is largely correct, let's look at the Lincoln game where most would agree that the football was some of the best of recent seasons and yet at the next home game the home support was way down. I know some will say but it was Tuesday evening etc but i Guarantee if it was Swindon,Pompey or the like people would have made the effort as was the case when it was West Ham Man City Newcastle etc.

This is why in this thread i cast doubts about filling a new ground or even seeing the numbers increase in the Championship that much when to the average person the likes of Cardiff Barnsley Preston etc are not an attraction.

What should not be lost in all the Euphoria of a new stadium etc is that history shows people only turn up for the perceived glamour clubs and they sit in The Premier League and there is a very long way to go to reach those giddy heights.

You've got the games out of sync with the only midweek game against Crewe happening before the Lincoln game.

If you look at home attendance alone then we have seen roughly 7070 v Charlton, 6550 v Crewe, 6500 v Lincoln, 7570 v Wycombe.

So 6500 seems to be the core figure with a 500 or so extra for the opening home game if the season and an extra 1000 for Wycombe (on the back of the great display against Lincoln).

That's an average of just shy 7000 home fans so far. That's pretty healthy considering everything that has happened over the last 18 months and all the barriers that have already been discussed. Maintain good performances and hang around the top 6 and some more attractive teams to play here and there's no reason why we can't see averages up towards 8000 for the season, in a shitty ground with poor traffic management etc etc.

So it's not a huge leap of faith to see that with the right ground and everything that comes with that, home attendance alone could be upwards of 10k per game, even at league 1 standards.

 

[Oxford57]

Some of the rubbish football that has been served up in the past ,along with poor management choices means that the stadium would have never been packed for routine run of the mill league games, the long term sufferers will turn up , the floating fan won’t turn up unless what’s on offer attracts them

 

[werthersoriginal]

Some of the rubbish football that has been served up in the past ,along with poor management choices means that the stadium would have never been packed for routine run of the mill league games, the long term sufferers will turn up , the floating fan won’t turn up unless what’s on offer attracts them

This argument just doesn't wash. The football has been really good for most of the last few years, and do you think that every club with bigger attendances than ours never has 'rubbish football'? Sunderland fans would turn up to watch two dogs chasing a carrot, if they were dressed in red and white.

 

[Wallop]

Take the usual 7k over the added few thousand for big cup games all day long. I like being able to get a ticket for every game and seeing the same old faces every Saturday, of course i want the club to progress but i do worry about being priced out & struggle for tickets if we progress up the leagues.

I wouldn't worry about that unless we ever got to the Premiership which is highly unlikely. The 18,000 capacity at the new stadium will mean anyone who is organised would be able to get tickets for the matches they want to see if we are in the Championship. In terms of pricing, whilst a Championship ticket would probably cost 20% over league one prices, that increase is a small % of the overall costs of the day - pie, pint, travel etc.

 

[werthersoriginal]

I wouldn't worry about that unless we ever got to the Premiership which is highly unlikely. The 18,000 capacity at the new stadium will mean anyone who is organised would be able to get tickets for the matches they want to see if we are in the Championship. In terms of pricing, whilst a Championship ticket would probably cost 20% over league one prices, that increase is a small % of the overall costs of the day - pie, pint, travel etc.

18,000 capacity is oddly specific. Tell us more!

 

[Essexyellows]

This argument just doesn't wash. The football has been really good for most of the last few years, and do you think that every club with bigger attendances than ours never has 'rubbish football'? Sunderland fans would turn up to watch two dogs chasing a carrot, if they were dressed in red and white.

True that and it's the bit we will never have.

 

[Wallop]

18,000 capacity is oddly specific. Tell us more!

Not sure what more there is to say but you might also notice that other posters have mentioned that figure

 

[Wallop]

True that and it's the bit we will never have.

There's nowt else to do in Sunderland and away trips enable their fans to leave for a short period every fortnight and breathe some fresher air.

 

[Marked Ox]

I hated the fencing, it was such a huge knee jerk response, the moat was enough to stop any pitch invasions, in the end I suppose I got used to it , the issue that seemed to be ignored was the pitch was a place of safety if there was need to evacuate the stands

And when, Vs Chelsea, people in the corner of the London Rd escaped onto the pitch (after the fences were taken down) to get away from trouble, the Police forced them back into where the fighting was taking place.

 

[unification]

This argument just doesn't wash. The football has been really good for most of the last few years, and do you think that every club with bigger attendances than ours never has 'rubbish football'? Sunderland fans would turn up to watch two dogs chasing a carrot, if they were dressed in red and white.

[Camera pans across the Stadium of Light. Red and white clad Sunderland fans look angry. The sell out crowd is febrile, hostile and booing. The scoreline comes up: SUNDERLAND 0-6 SHREWSBURY TOWN]

FAN 1: 'Fookin' hell, man. Why cannae yer get the carrot, yer fookin' mutt.'

FAN 2: [Boos]: 'H'way, man. I cannae take anymohur o' this.'

[A terrier in a red and white strip cocks a leg and pisses against the corner flag. A discarded carrot lays just off the pitch. A Shrewsbury player dribbles the ball past the uninterested dog].

FAN 3: 'FOOKIN' 'ELL, MAN!'

[Shrewsbury score a seventh.]

On the river where they built the boooats ...

 

[OX14]

Not sure what more there is to say but you might also notice that other posters have mentioned that figure

I thought it was a 21k capacity we were looking at building? We don't want to build too small and regret it like Brentford.

 

[werthersoriginal]

[Camera pans across the Stadium of Light. Red and white clad Sunderland fans look angry. The sell out crowd is febrile, hostile and booing. The scoreline comes up: SUNDERLAND 0-6 SHREWSBURY TOWN]

FAN 1: 'Fookin' hell, man. Why cannae yer get the carrot, yer fookin' mutt.'

FAN 2: [Boos]: 'H'way, man. I cannae take anymohur o' this.'

[A terrier in a red and white strip cocks a leg and pisses against the corner flag. A discarded carrot lays just off the pitch. A Shrewsbury player dribbles the ball past the uninterested dog].

FAN 3: 'FOOKIN' 'ELL, MAN!'

[Shrewsbury score a seventh.]

On the river where they built the boooats ...

*Literal LOL*

 

[Ox4Eva]

There's nowt else to do in Sunderland and away trips enable their fans to leave for a short period every fortnight and breathe some fresher air.

How do you know that, have you lived there?

Better nightlife than Oxford, friendly people, lovely countryside out of the city, oh and fans with 'passion' for every aspect of their club...

 

[holdsteady]

Oxford fans literally have paid professional level football prices to watch players who would of lost to two dogs with 4 legs between them back in the Patterson conference days, Sunderland have more fans but they don’t have better fans. Plus they don’t get the same crowds they had back in the prem days do they?

If in the past you have one trophies and played in the top flight/premier league for years you will have a larger support base, some leave as you get relegated but plenty still have the bug and carry on.

A better ground and better level football attract new fans, a league one club who can attract 30,000 plus every time they go to Wembley has potential but it will only ever be that while they play in poorly built/planned ground with nothing round it in the third tier.

 

[holdsteady]

How do you know that, have you lived there?

Better nightlife than Oxford, friendly people, lovely countryside out of the city, oh and fans with 'passion' for every aspect of their club...

You really don’t like Oxford (the place or people) much do you?

 

[Wallop]

How do you know that, have you lived there?

Better nightlife than Oxford, friendly people, lovely countryside out of the city, oh and fans with 'passion' for every aspect of their club...

No - I was being lazily stereotypical. However, how many on here would fancy moving from where they live today to living in Sunderland - not many I would guess.