What can we do to get more fans at home?

[idler]

Look at the gates we were getting at the time. We were at that time the biggest club in the division.

[Bentley Bullet]

It needed a lot less money then though BB.
That was a real kick in the teeth for us fans.

Yes it was mate, and EVERYBODY was unanimous about Bates' lack of ambition, when a bit more investment could have kept us in the second tier.

What makes you think he had any money to invest?

I don't think Bates or the rest of the board were exceptionally rich, but I don't think extreme wealth was as imperative back then. What Bates did have then though was a well-supported club. A club that was surely more self-sustaining than it is now.

 Perhaps it wasn't so much a case of lack of investment by means of Bates' own cash that made him so maligned by the public, but the lack of investment of the money the club must have inevitably made for itself.

[idler]

They not only pocketed a lot of gate money but sold good players.
The fans also paid for the new floodlights that the board or Bates then bragged about having.