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Attendances

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Atticus Finch

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Aug 2, 2013
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Some fans have expressed some disappointment at our crowds this season when compared to the first two campaigns.

Whilst they are down this year (271 v 304) if we take out the Rudheath game the average rises to 287 - so just 17 less than the 14/15 season. So not too bad in comparison.

In addition, our inconsistent start to the season allied to five home games on the bounce towards the end of last month undoubtedly affected the gates.

Furthermore, we were always going to reach a point where the initial novelty value and excitement of supporting a new club gradually wore off and I'd suggest that this has happened this season.

However, recently our gates have been remarkably consistent with our last five home league games attracting crowds of 251, 254, 241, 256 and 248. And it must be remembered that unlike most other clubs, these figures don't include season ticket holders who are present at games - and we have many of these! - and unlike those clubs further up the pyramid, our home games aren't sometimes boosted by large contingents of away supporters.

So, in terms of support, we are still doing remarkably well. In fact, whilst the following is a snap-shot of one weekend's fixtures in Steps 3 and 4, having done an analysis of last Saturday's games in these 9 Divisions - which totalled 104 games , our home attendance of 248 against Barlick was higher than all but 77 of these!
Indeed, it was greater than exactly half of the 36 Step 3 tussles and 59 of the 68 Step 4 matches with only the matches at Brighouse, Witton, Gresley, Stafford, Harlow, Folkestone, Gurnsey, Rushden, and Evesham beating it. And it evn eclipsed two Step 2 attendances at Brackley and Concord Rangers!

Oh, and before I finish, it was interesting to see that the table-topping, FA Cup Giantkillers Corrupt FC managed to coax a measely 115 fans to watch their home game v Radcliffe last night - just 7 more than watched our MCSC tie v Rudheath Social.

The receipts from that are really going to pay the bills!

So yes, it would appear that the silent majority have spoken with their feet and are staying away from Corrupt FC in their droves!

But before I finish, it is interesting to read one of the few posts that has been made on the subject of attendances on their forum. Looks like they have started at 160/170 (if you believe their early attendances) and are heading towards the 120 not the other way round! Their current league average is a massive 134, which is less than half our mean of 283.

Re: Attendances
Posted by Tonge » Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:52 pm

Abc wrote:How many will we get this season? I think we will start around 160/170 and be at 350 once we get going and are having a good season .

I think more likely start around 120 and then depending on results move our way up slowly. We could be in for a great season with the team JG is building.

Lets not kid ourselves though, we aren't going to get near to that 300 for a while I don't think.
 
Oh, forgot to mention that we are 137th in the top 250 non league attendance figures ahead of the likes of Ashton United, Skem, Warrington, Bamber Bridge, Leek, Lancaster and Redditch. Corrup FC don't even feature anywhere near this list. They are even eclipsed by the mighty Walsall Wood and Locomotive Llanberis!!!
 
I think our attendances are great and cringe when people moan when we 'only' get 250. It's easy to forget that we are playing out of town every single game and to have 250 turn up is a fantastic achievement. Crowds were always going to tail off and level out a bit, the fact they've done it around the 250 mark is brilliant. I'm also delighted that the people of Northwich have seen through the return of JRFC to the town, I did fear with a good run they could easily start getting 300-400 turning up. 1874 fans are brilliant and there is a definite feeling that this is the start of a long and successful future...and we get to say we were there from the start!
 
Think they have forgotten the fact that our fans were (on the whole) THEIR fans. We're are not stupid. We know what they were and indeed what they still are.
Any new fans that may turn up will eventually work out the history and ethics.
To be honest if anyone new chooses them over us fair enough, you are obviously not the ethical type we are or encourage.
Enjoy your strangely funded football. But your kids and grandkids will be watching us.
 
Quote From Twitter @vics4life
@vics4life: As a footnote to tonight's @NorthwichVicsFC magnificent win... Wasn't it great to see a few more old trickies jumping back on the green bus!
 
Atticus Finch said:
And it must be remembered that unlike most other clubs, these figures don't include season ticket holders who are present at games - and we have many of these!
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I am still unclear why we don't follow what most other clubs do and include non attending season ticket holders. As an 'owner' of the club and you want to gauge the success of your club the attendance figure is what you look at. Those on the Board I am sure will be aware of the figure as this will be what drives the financial estimates in the business plan. Can someone explain why not? The average attendance will be an important figure for future discussions with sponsors, ground development grant applications etc Can i ask for this to be reconsidered.
 
Peter, not a board member (just an owner!) so the views are my own.....

I believe that the club want to reflect the 'true' gate for each game and not try to massage the figures to inflate the gate. I understand that both ways are undertaken by different clubs and there is no hard or fast directive... it's purely how each club wants to play it...

I have no doubt that the number of season tickets sold (100+ at the last count) are included in the clubs accounts, just not used to mislead on the 'true' attendance for each game. I'm sure that the fact we have sold so many season tickets is used to market the club to relevant 3rd parties as to the popularity of 1874 Northwich FC
 
Thanks Simon
My point is the 'true' revenue generating gate is the one with non attending season ticket holders. Its not massaging the figures its fact. You could argue not including them is misleading. I still think ultimately the published figures will be an important issue when the club starts making grant applications. Like you say its just different perspectives
 
They are down, but when you look at the performances over the last 6 weeks you can see why. Hopefully now we're back on the right track and the attendances grow once more. I like to think if we continue to play like we did in the last 2 games, in a few weeks we'll be back at 300+ on weekends and 275+ midweek.

You hear "it's good for this level" banded around a lot. Which is very very true, but you should never get complacent, and never stop striving for more. When we get back to getting 300ish on weekends, then strive to get 350, then 400.

420 people came to the Nelson game last season, 500+ to the formby game the year before. Why don't they come week in week out? What can be done to entice them to?

A good run of performances will go a long way. It's not always about the result, but how enjoyable it is to watch.
 
Peter Hollinshead said:
My point is the 'true' revenue generating gate is the one with non attending season ticket holders. Its not massaging the figures its fact. You could argue not including them is misleading. I still think ultimately the published figures will be an important issue when the club starts making grant applications.
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IMO the revenue from the gate should be the money taken at the turnstile, and indeed I am sure that is how it will appear in the accounts, whereas the revenue from season ticket sales will appear as a separate account item.

The issue seems to surround more the published attendance figure, and in that I am slightly more comfortable with being told there were 248 bodies inside the ground - not only from a health & safety point of view but also because that can be held up as a genuine "attendance" rather than the "think of a number and double it (and count the shadows)" approach adopted by certain local outfits. We stand on even higher moral ground by giving true attendances, rather than adding 40-50 (?) every time for those of us who only occasionally get to use the season ticket.

What would be good at some point would be to see a breakdown of how many of the attendance were paying customers on the gate, how many were season ticket holders, and how many were assorted complimentaries. But that begins to ask a lot of a volunteer workforce.
 
Nothing wrong with 250 average gates but I agree with Andy, we can do more and should always be aiming to get the crowds up. Winning helps of course but so does the matchday experience and publicising the games.
 
Alan Marshall said:
What would be good at some point would be to see a breakdown of how many of the attendance were paying customers on the gate, how many were season ticket holders, and how many were assorted complimentaries. But that begins to ask a lot of a volunteer workforce.
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Alan, this information is already captured by the club as the way we work on the gate we can breakdown by comps, full paying adults / concessions / u12 and similarly with the season tickets, this is what we mark off on the turnstiles as everybody comes into the ground.. so even the u12's and comps are counted (I believe) in the overall attendance for a match day and these are 'non payers'..
 
Yes, I would have thought so. Just had the idea that it might be good to discover the breakdown, to remove the need to speculate for example on how many season ticket holders are amongst the crowd and whether including all in the figure would make a significant difference.

Incidentally, just for comparison and out of curiosity, does anyone know which attendance reporting measure Linnets use (as a club of comparable size and set-up)?
 
On our own, independent match reports, we could say.......Attendance 276 (34 no shows). Obviously, the "no shows" being season ticket holders unable to make the game.
 
Surely the season ticket holders that do attend should be counted, thats why our number is taken at the gate. Sorry if this has already been cleared up in previous posts ( I did read most lol)
 
Trevor said:
Surely the season ticket holders that do attend should be counted, thats why our number is taken at the gate. Sorry if this has already been cleared up in previous posts ( I did read most lol)
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Nah, don't agree with that. Personally, the attendance is the number of people who are actually at the game and it means we don't say we're getting something when we aren't, unlike some other club. I think that's the view shared by the board when it comes to announcing attendances.
 
I think how we do it now is the way to go, Total people in the ground.
 
Disagree It should be season ticket holders present plus anybody paying, Only my opinion.
 
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