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Crowds / Attendances

greenkev

Legend
5
Aug 29, 2015
165
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Hi All,
I’ve read previous messages &
I’m one of the stay away supporters.

Like many of the 1874 fans I grew up supporting the Vics from the late 60’s and 1874 once they were formed.

The reality of it and I can only speak on behalf of myself but I’ve found that the last 2 years with the covid situation the stop / start seasons I’ve drifted away and found fresh interests / hobbies..
Cycling / golf etc ..

Its hard for the club to attract new fans I’m sure .. when you think about it you have Witton, 1874, Barnton, Winsford all competing in the leagues they are in and the standards have never been so close..

So it’s a case of how can you do something different to attract the old supporters, the neutrals and more important the younger generations and the future???

Not easy in the current climate with so also so many live televised games etc

That’s the dilemma the club has not easy but it’s no longer a given that a club this size will naturally expect 250+ to brave all weathers and at the old “Mid Cheshire / Sunday League“ ground with slightly improved facilities but that’s it I’m sorry..

It’s not meant to be negative
because it’s much improved from the Winsford ground..and I actually think the club is run far better than our previous experiences we had to encounter in our other lives!!!

You need to attract the schools / young teams and grow the community, to give it a family feel and grow organically if the club.

It needs to generate money from outside the football too..
Again not easy with the facilities you have.

Again difficult when you ground share with potentially one of your rivals..

Lots to ponder but please don’t expect the crowds just to come flooding in, it’s hard enough to not lose them in an ageing supporters base too.

Like I said this is not a negative post as I actually think the club, you the owners, the management, the team, the supporters have been marvellous as to what you’ve achieved and can’t be underestimated the hard work that has already been put it ..

Its a very hard task to take it to the next level but that’s my feelings..

I welcome other peoples views on this too ..
 
I don’t think anyone just expects people to turn up! I do agree though that due to Covid, people have got out of the habit of going to football.

I think there is a general feeling of apathy in the town for local football. Even the old, famous Northwich Victoria name doesn’t pull people in. Possibly due to being a tarnished brand, but also not having their own home… people like an identity.
Having so many teams in one area doesn’t help, but even if you added up the total attendance for all those clubs, it’s only around 1000.

Part of 1874s charm was/is that it was supporter owned and transparent and maybe the novelty of that has worn off a bit. Maybe more needs to be made of this and members given more benefits. Maybe schools could be approached with free tickets and youngsters could be ‘mini-members’ with their own newsletter/ benefits. I know this is easily said, and someone actually has to organise it!

There is no quick fix, but good runs in the cup have shown there is still an appetite for going to a local match - remember the queues at Wincham Park for our Vase matches?

I think pulling in 200 is still pretty respectable, but we don’t want a downward trajectory from there. I’m sure a good season would see us with attendances at 250+. Let’s not be defeatist though, the club has recently been promoted, is still on a solid financial foundation and is still run by brilliant people. Keep improving as we are doing and attendances will naturally rise.
 
Greenkev, you make a good point about 2 years away because of Covid and people find new ways to spend their weekends.

I myself have gone from barely missing a game, to missing a few away games this season because of this.


On another note, is there as fans something we can do the boost attendances?
 
I’ve just been encouraging my friends to come to the game against Widnes. Yes they come too the odd game we have some banter. Give the styles brothers a bit of stick! They love it by the way. That’s what we can do. Just ask people to come. Offer them a lift to the game. It doesn’t have to be complicated
 
I’ve just been encouraging my friends to come to the game against Widnes. Yes they come too the odd game we have some banter. Give the styles brothers a bit of stick! They love it by the way. That’s what we can do. Just ask people to come. Offer them a lift to the game. It doesn’t have to be complicated
John might "love it" Richard, but the other part (the sensitive oap) is suffering and maybe considering what alternative activities I might take up!
 
Think people have touched on the things we can do to boost crowds, but it shouldn’t be forgotten all the many positives about our club.

On the pitch we’ve achieved two promotions in our short history, had some exciting cup runs and won a number of trophies. This season we’ve made a very respectable start to life at the highest level in our history. Off the pitch we continue to be run in a way we could not have dreamed of in the dark days at Vics. We’ve achieved a lot already. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Lots to be proud of and we’ve got to sell our club and why we love it!
 
Evening Guys,
I can assure you all that as a Board we are very conscious of the current situation. Covid and 2 years of disruption has not helped. It is not easy, as you say there is a lot of competition for people's time and attention.
We are slowly returning to something approaching normal and I fully understand the challenge facing us.
I don't want 1874 to just survive at step 4, I want us to thrive.
There are limitations as to what we can offer our supporters, but your views are important.
If you have any thoughts or ideas please come and talk to me.
If your not sure who I am, I'm the guy with the jacket and tie on ( NPL protocol ).

Thanks
Steve
Chairman of 1874 Board
 
It's clear that attendances aren't as high as we would like them to be which is for a variety of different reasons that have been pointed out on here already, I do think that if we can keep getting some big wins then attendances will get better as we have to remember that we have a number of more casual floating fans that maybe don't appreciate or understand the difference in quality between the North West Countiines and the NPL and it's only our more hardcore fans that will keep coming to games week after week, in terms of trying to grow the fanbase I agree that promoting to local schools is a great idea, I also think that doing some leafleting in the Northwich area like we did for the FA Vase run would be really helpful in informing the locals in the town of the following:
1. who we are
2. history of what we've achieved
3. where we play
4. community work we do
5. charities we support
etc
and we could include a fixture list and maybe a few small pieces of club merch.
 
My thoughts would be others than the good ones previously mentioned

1) Introduce mascots for each game

2) Half time games / training skills etc for the school children

3)Penalty / cross bar challenges for the school children

4) Pricing - introduce flexible prices for family packages

5) Social Media -
Training sessions - players interview players on different topics etc etc
 
Social media has been one of the club's particularly strong areas in past seasons, attracting plaudits far & wide. Still got to hook people first though. Difficult to create a "buzz" after the past 2 disrupted seasons, with a stuttering start at a new higher level and with the weather turning as well.
No bright ideas from me that haven't been suggested above though.
 
I've been thinking for a long time now, that what we need is someone who is just responsible for public relations. In the beginning we had a fantastic and dynamic chairman. He always made sure that local people knew what we were and what we were about, welcomed everyone at the gate. He also featured in film clips and was very aware of the power of positive publicity.
I realise that we have been going through a difficult period with Covid etc. That's why I think the time is now right to have someone to be just responsible for public relations, we need a P.R.O.
 
Are we still doing an article for the Northwich Guardian this week?

I’ve recently had quite a bit of success promoting a few things through Facebook groups. Maybe our wonderfully quirky/tongue in cheek social media presence could get into local Facebook groups - Northwich Life, Hartford Life, Davenham, Kingsmead etc. If we can inform people about our club, and give them a little giggle at the same time, maybe it’ll create a buzz again.
 
Agree with much of the above and glad the club is aware and wants to grow our fan base. I think we should speak to other clubs who I think are similar in size, structure etc. for ideas, info on how we can grow... for eg…Prescot average over 200 more than us, Trafford 160 more and Bootle 85 more. Linnets are a fine example of how to grow a club…average 600+ now which is much higher than a few years back…I know their new stadium is a big factor but not the sole reason. As much as I like the little social club at Townfield I do think it limits us somewhat…how we approach that I’m not sure. With a live prem game on most Saturdays at 12.30pm the benefit of attracting more locals for that and then the 74 match would be significant. Just a thought….
 
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Good move ... though not sure the prospect of winning a bottle will be enough to get me up there at this time of year, sadly.
 
Not sure if it would help attendances, but I certainly think it’s something the club worth looking in to.

Covid has made everywhere cash free, the only time I have cash is for football games.

But, having said that, if paid on card to get in, I wouldn’t have cash to buy a pie and such. Something worth thinking about. If card on entrance is used, I think card at the cafe would also be needed.
 
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