Attendances

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Attendances

Post by Dave »

Attendances is a subject on all our minds right now, after two successful seasons in the conference, promotion and consolidation in league 2,coupled with a well documented good run of results leading to the end of last season and the beginning of this season, still the fans are not turning up in great numbers.

Many may point to our rivals up the road, there attendances have risen, however I know a few Greek season ticket holders, and it would appear they have done nothing in terms of special offers like kids for a quid promotions etc to attract new fans.

With out wishing to heap to much praise on them, with events stabilising off the field and sad to say success on it, its clear to see why there gates numbers have gone up.

Is it a general state of apathy around the bay?, some still believing the club lacks ambition, some maybe still thinking we are still an out and out hoof ball side under buckle s management .

We all no the state the club was in when this new board took over, however I believe the rebuilding of our club is still a work in progress, with the new training ground, which I have been on recently, and with little work carried out so far, it is already looking fantastic, no doubt we will have a training ground to rival any at our level soon.

The new grandstand project, which will certainly tidy up the ground, and take away the embarrassment of the current grandstand.

Expanded youth department, that now includes five development centre s for kids 8-16, from Cornwall, into Plymouth, Ashburton, north devon and taunton,a system that does work as a large number of lads have been signed to our centre of excellence, practically from the Plymouth area, there is no doubt that the youth department, in a few years will once again supply quality players to the first team.

http://torquayunitedeadc.co.uk/site/index.asp

The point is, the board do appear committed to drive through further improvements off as well as on the field, and despite promotion back to the football league are not going to rest on its laurels, tufc really does deserve better supporting numbers from its fans, even if its just once a month as we all know money is tight for many at the moment.

Maybe the club needs to do more to get the message across on the continued improvements being made, alas a fear it may only be on the field success that may bring our attendance numbers, should the team still be in the mix towards the ends of the season then maybe our gates will increase, as I am not sure much else will work.
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Post by drummergull90 »

Yeah it's a troubling issue. 2,500 is just not good enough. Maybe it's the money, £18 in the family stand is ridiculous. Especially to see the quality of game we saw today.

We need to bring fans in from all over the bay, shuttle buses from Paignton, Brixham and Torquay town centres would be good. Perhaps a family ticket option where a family of four come in for £20? Posters in the windows of local businesses on match days? Ability to buy tickets from local shops for a discounted price in advance? We need to do something.
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Post by shaunicus »

I don't think an attendance of 2,500 is something to be *too* concerned about. A reasonable away following today and we'd be pushing for 3,000 - which I reckon is about right for a town our size.

If I was to suggest anything, it would be to focus on getting the kids through the gates. I started going to Plainmoor during the 'Kids for a quid' scheme because it was only a pound and, in my eyes at the time, it was better than doing nothing. As a result I caught the bug and have been going regulary ever since. I've also encouraged my brother to start going to games. Originally he was sceptical - now he goes with his mates every week.

The young 'uns the future and we need to hook them in early.
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Post by wivelgull »

If you stand on the Pop. side it will become clear immediately what the problem is: the people there are either under 18 or over 60 - there's hardly anything in between. Whether this is true in other areas of the ground, I can't say, never (in 47 years of going to Plainmoor) have i ever visited another area. Those aged between 18-60 leave Torquay, those coming in don't like football or don't/won't support United. Consequently if attendances are to increase significantly, it's the 18-60 age group that need to be targeted.
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Post by Southampton Gull »

wivelgull wrote:If you stand on the Pop. side it will become clear immediately what the problem is: the people there are either under 18 or over 60 - there's hardly anything in between. Whether this is true in other areas of the ground, I can't say, never (in 47 years of going to Plainmoor) have i ever visited another area. Those aged between 18-60 leave Torquay, those coming in don't like football or don't/won't support United. Consequently if attendances are to increase significantly, it's the 18-60 age group that need to be targeted.

What complete tosh.

Have you ever actually looked around the Popside?
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Post by Plymouthgull »

Most of the people who stand around me on the popside are between 35 - 55. More importantly, I am aware of how the board is re-buliding the club in a number of ways. I just feel there is still an attitude that little can be done to raise attendences beyound winning on the field. I do not buy that. Give raising attendances a high priority with clear numerical goals and clear actions ( hell, this is what maketing is all about!!) The make it the responsibility of EVERYONE who works at the club and I mean EVERYONE, numbers will rise. Sorry to say but I thought the HT entertainment yesterday was a shambles - has the presenter ever practised speaking publically? An example of NOT 'selling' our club very well)
The size of the town is not the key issue. With the population of the Bay combined with the pop of areas such as N.Abbot and Totnes we should be able to draw in 4000+ on a regular basis.
I,m sick of being seen as 'little Torquay with no ambition' (a leagacy of the regimes of bygone days) Time for things to change!!
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Post by Fonda »

I'm afraid if there was a magic formula, we'd have stumbled upon it by now. It's not just about 'making more effort' to increase attendances, i'm sure the board (and the regimes before them) have considered everything. For me, the most prominent obstacle remains the local demographic. There are no jobs and little money in the bay. Those that want to earn a living, move away. Most of those that stay local, don't have high levels of disposable income. And it's unfortunate, but history would indicate there isn't great interest in the game down here. A large percentage of the local community are 'imports' from elsewhere, and as such have their own allegiances. I was born in the Bay and have lived here for the vast majority of my life - as such i've got a lot of friends and family down here - and i go to the game with 3 other people. Nobody else cares enough. And most of my other friends like football - they just don't feel, for whatever reason, £16 at Plainmoor represents good value. It's a vicous circle - the only thing that will bring numbers through the turnstiles is success on the pitch. And the only thing that can really provide success on the pitch is money through the turnstiles. Or is it? Perhaps the club needs to focus it's efforts on generating money through it's 'non-matchday' interests? I'd like to believe that attracting kids now will ensure the support for the future, but i'm afraid until the Bay becomes a more attractive place to live and work, the majority of that support (in a money through the turnstiles sense) will only ever be temporary because when the time comes, they'll be heading elsewhere.
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Post by Colorado Gull »

First of all whats going on here, about what ages are in the pop?! Theres a variety of ages?!

Anyway, as I said on another thread, the Att will go down as of the fair weather fans will fade out when the start of the season is ended. It was the same last year....the Grimsby game at home (4th game of the season) and we went from over 3,000 to just 2,500. We also lost at Southed so that could be another reason it was only ubove 2,500. I think it's not the thing to be worried about TBH. The Att will be back up to around 3,000 but most games (we have to get used to) will be 2,500 +.
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Post by Fonda »

I think the point is, that with a supposed catchment the size of the one we've got, if we want the club to achieve anything (i.e be a comfortable League 1 side) our attendances need to be much higher than that.

People insist our catchment is of similar proportions to Exeter's (not necessarily something i agree with), so what do they have that we don't? Well, as close as it is, it's a far more affluent area than 'Torbay', and there are jobs, which mean the kids that grow up supporting their club don't have to relocate at the earliest opportunity.

And although the suggestion didn't recieve much backing last time i suggested it, i still believe 'Torbay United' would have more through the turnstiles every week. I know it seems futile, and i'm very aware there are a lot of people in Paignton and Brixham that support TUFC passionately, but i still think there would be more if the club (in name) represented a wider area. I can only talk personally - but i'm not sure i'd be a passionate supporter of Brixham United if they were the area's League side. Am i alone in that? If i am, i'll shut up about it. Are there people in the outlying areas that would more readily support a team that represented them more obviously? I tend to think so (not that i've researched the issue).

I should reiterate, a name change is not something i'm advocating - as a Torquay based TUFC supporter, i'm selfishly more than happy as things are.
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Post by RussianGull »

I think our gates are low, of course, but a football habit is an expensive thing.

If you look at Lincoln City (the nearest L2 football club to me whilst i'm at home) they have gates of 3k or less too. Only Bradford seem to have decent gates for our league and thats because its a big city.

I blame the low attendance on Sky Sports, fringe supporters who may not come regular are more likely to stay at home with their subscription watching Chelsea drum West Ham than they are to go out to Babbacombe and watch Torquay.
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Post by westbaygull »

I have always taken the view that for an afternoon's entertainment, £16 is not a lot to fork out (although after yesterday, pfft..)- often it's the 'football accessories' that bump up the cost, the pies/pints/programmes etc. I am fortunate though that neither of the boys ever really wanted to come to football, as that would have put attending games completely out of my reach. As has already been suggested above, maybe the Club could look at family tickets and/or kids' special pricing days, although it's tricky when trying to be fair to season ticket holders.
No easy answer. If we don't get the crowds in during decent weather when we're top of the league, what will attract them?
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Post by westbaygull »

shaunicus wrote:
The young 'uns the future and we need to hook them in early.
At the risk of needing my flak jacket, has anyone seen this?

http://www.torquaysupporters.com/tust_n ... php?id=494

A new initiative aimed at hooking them in!
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Post by yellow »

I tend to agree with Fonda.

For all the talk of initiatives there is just only a certain number of people that will come through the Plainmoor turnstiles. And the current economic climate is certainly not helping matters.

Add to that a small fish club which suppresses the home crowd a bit, along with 50 travelling fans and the result is yesterday s gate.

I can t see it changing dramatically. There are 2,500 hard core souls with 500 floaters and another 500-1,000 good time Charlies. The away support can vary between 50 and 500 on top of that.

That is it. We are probably doing well to sustain a Div 2 outfit. If truth be told we are only doing that thanks to the generosity of the Bristow family.

Initiatives to get the yoof on board are always to be applauded. Kids for a quid is a good one. Trouble is there are so many other ways to spend a Saturday and the Sky saturation coverage didn t exist when many a Popsider signed up to the lifestyle choice of being a Gull.

It is an entertainment business and all the club can do is get the product right and the pricing structure correct.

Westy is thankful her kids aren t into football because of the expense. That is the paradox of our situation.

However, in the long run I fear that in the case of TUFC crowds and initiatives the old adage that applies is;

“You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink....”
"A day without football is a day lost" (Ernst Happel)
"Look at the (Plainmoor) stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah they were all yellow" (C. Martin)
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Post by Plymouthgull »

I take on board the points made here by the likes of Fonda, and Yellow and Westbaygull but at trhe risk of being shot down I feel you are all admitting defeat. I know it is difficult for many in the Bay to attend because incomes are so low (by the way I get tired of all the press that seems to suggest that people only struggle in the SW if they are in Cornwall - not true!). However I do think the club can do more. It seems to me we are yet to emerge fully from the attitude promoted by previous regimes that we are on some way lucky to have a leagueclub. Such a view is both wrong and self defeating. We can grow and do not have to accept gates of 2,500 - 3,000. It just takes the WILL to decide that we will grow as a club.
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Post by westbaygull »

yellow wrote:Westy is thankful her kids aren t into football because of the expense. That is the paradox of our situation.
No, no, no, on the contrary, I feel I have failed miserably as a parent. I just meant, from a selfish perspective, that I am able to afford to go to more games than I could if I was bringing the chaps with me. I would happily sacrifice some matches to see my lil cherubs in a Torquay shirt...<sniffs and reaches for the choklit smilie>
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