Potential New Ground

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I am.not sure that makes any difference to whether Kassam will sell ( if he will at a price that makes sense for the club)
Sure the houses will help crowds but that is totally irrelevant if Kassam wont sell/ wont allow a 4th stand / is difficult over staff getting into the ground etc
It would though have a significant impact on the potential underlying value of the land as a simple moneyspinner. Without an obvious route to selling the stadium site for housing FK is in a weaker position. I think it's very likely that this is a big factor for both parties.
 
But there is the little issue of the increased budget to be in or stay in the championship, that figure could be larger that a stadium purchase if we stayed there any amount of time.

Which is why the board don’t want to go up this year. They can’t be expected to fund both and we all know which is the priority.
 
Which is why the board don’t want to go up this year. They can’t be expected to fund both and we all know which is the priority.

That of course being the case they then wont want promotion for some 4/5 seasons yet.

As i've stated before even with a shiny new stadium there is nothing from current evidence to suggest that once they get their property that the playing side will still be dealt with or indeed that they remain for any length of time.
The money they will outlay will take some time to comeback so if they've not got it or not prepared to invest when promotion was calling what's to say they will going forward and in the initial period where's the funds coming from before said outlets realize an income.
 
Just over 10000 at Reading tonight and they used to get 20-25000 when it was the shiny Premiership opposition. Where have all their loyal fans gone?

177 Wigan fans at the Madejski - Fewer that 10,000 Reading fans attended.

Sky Sports televise all Championship midweek games on the red button and gates are tumbling as a result.

 
We had very few on Tuesday though. And of course it’s a huge journey on a Tuesday night for Accrington fans
When I went to Ipswich last week we took almost 1400 Which is impressive.
The number of games and indeed the cold will impact on all attendances.
Reading after their good start under new management must fear playing Swindon next season
 
Which is why the board don’t want to go up this year. They can’t be expected to fund both and we all know which is the priority.
So are you suggesting the investors are only here for the money, OUFC is the avenue to create that opportunity via a new retail park/stadium.
 
Not even if those teams were also in the championship? And the extra 5,000 would turn out for Barnsley and Wigan?
No, not even if we were playing them one league up. And no, I am not saying an extra 5000 would turn out for Barnsley or Wigan either. Just think back to the numbers that have historically supported us at home. Given that the average attendance this season is about 7,400 - when did it EVER average 12,400? Not when we were in the old first division I'd wager. If anyone can find the figures season on season that would be great (I couldn't, but then I am supposed to be working!).
 
No, not even if we were playing them one league up. And no, I am not saying an extra 5000 would turn out for Barnsley or Wigan either. Just think back to the numbers that have historically supported us at home. Given that the average attendance this season is about 7,400 - when did it EVER average 12,400? Not when we were in the old first division I'd wager. If anyone can find the figures season on season that would be great (I couldn't, but then I am supposed to be working!).
Without checking, I think the average attendance at the Manor in the 3 seasons we played in the top flight (84/85, 85/86, 86/87 was no higher than 8.5k, probably less ? if memory serves (it may not) there were a couple of old First division home games where the attendance only just scraped over 4k ... tuesday night V Accrington, in comparison to that, wasnt too bad
 
There will a spike in attendances briefly if we get promoted (I could imagine 11,500 for Bristol City, Forest, Birmingham) but can you really imagine over 8,000 the following season (if we stay up) for fixtures against Preston? Blackburn? Hull?
 
Attendance figures during the 80's were poor everywhere so it's difficult to use them as a predictor for future attendance. Modern football is far more family orientated and a new stadium would improve the overall 'experience' and help to increase numbers. However, the standard of the football being played is often the biggest factor in getting people through the gates. If we were playing the same freeflowing, attacking, high scoring football, being up and around the promotion places, AND had a sparkly new stadium and everything that goes with that, then we could see a big jump in numbers. 5000 more, for every game, for several seasons, is very optimistic. But as we know from Field of Dreams "If you build it, they will come!"
 
Have said it before that even with a 20.000 stadium and some 3.000 away fans at best that's still another 10.000 new fans on top of the average now...Take a good look at the clubs in the Championship and you'll be pushed to find many that will attract the new supporter
 
177 Wigan fans at the Madejski - Fewer that 10,000 Reading fans attended.

Sky Sports televise all Championship midweek games on the red button and gates are tumbling as a result.


Can’t blame anyone for not going to midweek games that are on tv, it was fine for me when I lived up the road from the Kassam/manor but now I live 50 miles away I would just sit at home and watch it apart from the big games, even though I have a season ticket.

Football was always supposed to be played at 3pm in a Saturday when most people have time on their hands, other than then you always risk lower crowds for mundane games.
 
And let's not pretend that an increase in attendance is going to be that significant the balance sheet if we were trying to establish in the Championship.

What is our income from gate and season ticket receipts now and how close does that get to covering outgoings on player and staff wages/costs?

Given that most of the top teams could comfortably cover their costs playing in an empty stadium, I would hazard a guess that the further up the pyramid you go, the less significant crowds become in income terms.
 
After all the heroics and brilliant football of this season, the poor midweek attendance is a stark reminder of how hard it will be to attract fans into this club long term with, or without a nice new stadium and promotion.
An extra 5000 bums on seats as an average attendance is a colossal ask for us in the championship.
Scotchers’ ‘if you build it they will come’ really is the field of dreams.
Reality is, only in the premiership could we hope to see such numbers and with the money sloshing around in there, the money generated by attendances is made almost irrelevant in comparison to the tv money.
 
Stadco accounts for year end Sep 2019 now filed. Nothing interesting in the notes. Apart from a reduction in trade debtors from £825,635 to £412,251. Possibly due to OUFC paying the service charge dispute? or not being behind on rent?
Pre-tax profits down from £529,507 to £408,149.
 
Thinking in terms of Div 1 to Div 4 with none of this Prem/Champ pish.
In 40+ years that I`ve been going we`ve been in the top 2 divisions for what? 8 or 9 seasons?
Which means we`ve been in the bottom 2, and below, for 30+ seasons.
Average gates across all that are probably 7,500 or so, balanced out across the "bleak" days of the 70s/80s,the depths of the Conference and including the "happy new football family experience" of late.
So we bottom out at 4k, max out at 11k. Back of a fag packet maths. :D

Where are these 5,000+ new converts coming from?

If we move to a £40 million shiny new ground............. will that become a millstone round our neck (Darlington) or an echo chamber of misery (MK Dons)?

Nope sorry, we`ve got what we need where we are, and we just need to sort that situation out favourably for the Club.
 
Or Brighton?

But this is why I said that it is important to match a shiny new stadium with good football being played, and hopefully this brings success.

That is a difficult comparison to make. Brighton were at the Withdean for years, which only had a capacity of ~8000 and averaged ~7,500 in League One - probably due to fluctuations with away fans so there weren't that many empty home seats before they moved. We are averaging ~7,400 in a 12,500 capacity ground.
 
I certainly don't feel that 5000 extra supporters are going to show up just because we get into the championship however, given that we have had near capacity crowds on 3 occasions this season, it does show that there are football fans out there who are willing to pay to watch at a stadium in Oxford/Oxfordshire. If they were given the prospect of a more comfortable experience with easier commuting, better food outlets, more cover from the elements and clean and functioning facilities, perhaps those so called "day trippers" might actually wish to attend more often and maybe become season ticket holders.
Let's face it, most of us would pay to watch OUFC from almost anything because that's what we do, your normal family type wants and expects a bit more. I see no reason why the attendance figures shouldn't rise with promotion and a decent stadium. Regardless of who we are playing, we need to encourage the locals to attend.
 
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